Trollzawa's Comet
by Robert Teague
Summary: The chance discovery of a comet by Sapphire and Jade while at the Mt. Trollamar Observatory may herald the end of the Trollz World!
1. Chapter 1

Trollzawa's Comet

by Robert Teague

This story is written solely for the entertainment of Trollz fans, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story may be reproduced, provided no changes are made, and you let me know.

Author's Note: This is the third story in the series, and you need to read "Passing the Torch" and "Return to Trollhiti" first to get up to speed.

I've got a number of maps and other Trollz-related art on my deviantART account that might be of use while reading these stories. My account name is Penumbrus.

Chapter One

The road between Trollzopolis and Trollenburg was deserted except for a few trucks and a lone car. The car held two female trolls and was the same color as the driver's hair, a two-tone green. Her eyes matched the lighter green. The passenger had blue hair and eyes, and was constantly checking a map she held.

"Sapphire, will you relax?" asked the driver, "It's only a seventy-five mile trip. We'll be there by lunch."

"I just don't want to miss the turnoff," explained the other, "We should get to it pretty soon."

"Don't worry, we won't miss it because there it is now," said the driver, pointing.

Sure enough, just ahead on the right was a two-lane blacktop with a sign reading: "Mt. Trollamar Observatory 6 miles".

The blue haired girl gave a sigh of relief. "Glad to see it. Thanks, Jade."

"Hey, I'm just as anxious to get there as you are, if not more," answered the other, "I've always wanted to see the observatory."

"Me too, and now that we have the chance, I want it all to be perfect!" said Sapphire.

Jade smiled, but didn't answer. She slowed, put on her turn indicator, and made the gentle turn to the right. The woods suddenly surrounded them far more thickly than it had out on the highway.

They rode in silence for a while, then the trees grew thinner and ahead of them was the last of the line of hills that stretched from east to west. It was named Mt. Trollamar and at the top was one of the most famous telescopes in the world.

It was no longer the biggest (that honor went to one high on a mountain east of the Great Lake to the south), but it still did a lot of useful science. The word "mountain" was just barely applicable for the ground on which it sat, and trees covered the sides nearly to the top.

At the foot was a small town built just to support the telescope and the scientists that manned it. As they drove down the main street, they took in what there was to see.

"Hey, they're building a conference center," said Jade, pointing to a construction site next door to the hotel.

"Well that's odd... this facility is a over a hundred years old. Why would they build that now?" asked Sapphire.

"I read that they were making some major upgrades on the telescope, and expect to make important new discoveries," said Jade, pulling into the hotel's parking lot. "It makes sense to have a place where press conferences and meetings can be held."

Hm... you're right," agreed Sapphire.

Their reservations were waiting and soon they were checked into adjoining rooms. Sapphire called the observatory to let her contact know they were there.

"You're early, Miss Trollzawa," said Dr. McTroll, "Eager to get started, are we?" There was a note of teasing in his voice.

But when it came to science, Sapphire was all business. "Yes, sir. I want to know everything I can before the evening starts."

"That's commendable, but you need to relax. The telescope's not going anywhere, and there are hours before night," he answered with a chuckle, "Why don't you get some lunch first, and then drive up?"

"O-okay, sir, I'll try to relax. I've got someone with me, is she welcome too?" Sapphire asked as Jade came in through the door between their rooms.

"The invite was for you plus one, so of course. Is she a General Specialist major too?" he asked.

"No, her name's Jade Trollberger. She goes to Trollzopolis Community College. Right now she's taking secretarial courses, but is switching to Lab Assistant next semester," was the answer.

"I see. And I gather she's also your assistant?" he asked.

"Yes sir," answered Sapphire, "And a friend."

"Very good. I'll see you in a while. Oh, be careful driving up. The road is paved, but it's narrow and winds," he said.

"we will. I look forward to meeting you, sir. Goodbye." said Sapphire, and hung up.

"Well?" asked Jade.

"All set. He suggests we eat, first," said Sapphire.

"Sounds good to me," was the answer, and Jade stood up. "Say, you never did get around to telling me how you managed to get this opportunity. You haven't even started the astronomy section of your studies."

"I got lucky," said Sapphire, heading for the door. "The undergrad who's turn it was had to drop out of school, and no one else could take it."

The hotel was 70 rooms in a two-story building, and because it was nearly empty right now they were on the ground floor near the lobby.

A map of the town showed every business there, and they decided to walk over to a Fizzy's Cafe just a few buildings over.

As they waited for their food, Jade smiled at her friend. "Saph, thanks for bringing me with you. I'd never be able to do this if you hadn't."

"Hey, you're my assistant," said the other, smiling, "What good are you if you aren't there to assist?"

After lunch they got into Jade's car.

"Oh, he told me the road is narrow and winds, so you have to take extra care," said Sapphire.

"Yeah, I remember that from researching the facility," nodded Jade.

"If the road is so dangerous, why don't we take a portal?" asked Sapphire.

"We can't," answered Jade, "Some of the instruments are magic-enhanced, and using a portal spell can disturb them."

"Oh, that's right, I'd forgotten that. Glad you remembered," said Sapphire, buckling her seat belt.

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The trip up to the observatory itself took a lot longer than either girl thought. In a straight line it was about a mile, but the road was steep and consisted of switchbacks with narrow turns. Jade had to drive very slowly, as there was no rail and not much in the way of an edge between the road and the open air.

Finally, though, they made it to the parking lot and found the "guest" spot. Getting out, they looked out over the land. Trollzopolis was lost in the distance to the south, but the town below was quite visible.

"I wonder if lights from the town are a problem?" Jade commented.

"Actually, no," said a voice behind them.

They turned and found a troll in his forties with glasses and some gray in his dark orange hair. He also had a bit of a paunch.

"The town is there to support the observatory, so all lighting is shielded," he explained, "I'm Dr. McTroll."

"Nice to meet you, sir, I'm Sapphire Trollzawa, and this is Jade Trollberger," said Sapphire, shaking his hand.

"Welcome," he said, "Follow me, and I'll show you what you need to know."

They were given a quick tour of the dome itself and shown the telescope. Then he led them to the control room, filled with monitors and computers. These days it was actually rare to observe through the telescope. Electronic sensors did a much better job than the naked eye, and the data could be analyzed immediately.

"So what are we going to be doing?" asked Jade at last.

"What that other student was going to, actually," he answered, "There are three observing runs scheduled for tonight, and all three will be done fairly early. You'll have the rest of the night to search for comets."

He showed them what they needed to know, and asked if they had remembered their jackets. This late in the season it got cold, and there was no heating in the observatory (rising heated air distorted the view).

He was going to spend the evening in the small bunkroom across the parking lot. He had some calls to make and papers to review, but if they needed him, they shouldn't hesitate to call.

Alone at last, Sapphire and Jade grinned at each other. This was going to be an unforgettable night of fun! Pure science!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The three runs had concluded, and now it was their turn. It was a bit after eleven at night, and they had until the morning to observe. A CD with instructions for the telescope had been left with them, and they got the program started with little trouble.

The odds of them finding a new comet while watching a monitor wasn't really very good. The monitor's resolution wasn't the best, so it would be easy to miss something. The data would be examined by a program written especially to find comets.

It did get cold a few hours after sunset, but they didn't care. They were both fulfilling a dream, and would make the most of it. They sat watching the monitor, breath visible, hoping to spot a fuzzy patch that would be a new comet.

Eventually they had to take a break, eating dinner and making a few calls.

"Hello, dear," said Mrs. Trollzawa, "Are you there now?"

"Yes, mom! We're at the observatory and actually using the telescope!" answered Sapphire with a grin.

"Oh, wonderful! I'm so glad you had the chance to do that!" said her mom.

"Me too!" answered Sapphire, "I'll get some pics and send them to you."

Her mom nodded. "Your father and I will look forward to it."

"We'll be heading home in a few days, so see you then! Bye!" she said.

"Okay, dear. Goodbye!" her mom hang up, and Sapphire did the same. She looked over at Jade, who ended her call as well.

"Wanna get back to the room?" asked her assistant, putting her phone away.

"Yeah. We've been away for an hour, I don't want to miss any more," said Sapphire.

Dr. McTroll looked over from his table where he was reading a paper. "If you look in the main menu, there's a command to review what was recorded while you were away."

"Thanks!" said Sapphire, standing up.

Outside they bundled into their jackets and headed back to the control room.

"Wow, look at the stars," said Jade.

Indeed, away from the lights of Trollzopolis, the stars were bright and seemingly close enough to touch. Jade pointed out some of the constellations, and named some of the brighter stars. Sapphire was impressed. Jade knew more about astronomy than she did! She resolved to fix that little omission in her interests.

Back in the control room they checked to make sure everything was working smoothly, which it was. Their run would end at daybreak, and they would likely sleep most of the day.

They sat and reviewed the data for the time they missed. The recorded view just showed stars, but at one point picked up an asteroid. The software identified it for them. It was just big enough to be more than a point of light.

They had nearly caught up with the records when Sapphire noticed a fuzzy patch near the upper left corner of the monitor. Curious, she did a freeze frame and choose and enlarge. It got a bit brighter and fuzzier.

"Hey, there's a comet!" she told Jade, who was looking at the monitor showing the telescope's position.

The other girl rolled her chair over for a better look. "Sure is!" she confirmed.

Sapphire asked the software for an identification, but it came up empty.

"Oh, wow! We might have found a new comet!" said Jade.

They turned the telescope back to it for a better look. In the monitor it was just a blob of light, as yet showing no sign of a tail. They took care to make sure they had its position.

"We'll need to take two more positions to determine an orbit," said Jade. "We can take one tomorrow night, but what about Sunday?"

"I... can stay an extra day, if Dr. McTroll will let me," said Sapphire, "What about you?"

"Fine with me," answered Jade.

They let the telescope go back to its program, and looked up comets on the trollnet.

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"The orbit doesn't match anything else in the database," said Dr. McTroll two nights later, "You've discovered a new comet! Congratulations!"

Jade and Sapphire high-fived each other. "ALL RIGHT!"

"Hm..." he added, "It looks right now like it's going to be in a position to be pretty bright. Comet Trollzawa-Trollberger just might be seen by a lot of people."

"It gets named after us?" asked Sapphire, surprised.

"You two discovered it, so of course," he answered. "I'd say it's pretty big, too. This might be its first time through the system, so the sun hasn't burned much away."

Sapphire grinned. "Even better!"

Just then the computer screen changed, and he studied the data. "If everything stays the way it is, this might be the brightest comet in decades."

Jade and Sapphire grinned at each other.

He turned to another terminal. "I'm going to forward the data to the Astronomical Union to make sure you have priority on the discovery." He pulled up a special text program and spent several minutes writing the note, being sure to include the names and contact info for the discoverers.

"That's that," he said, sending it. He turned back to the first terminal and typed commands. "Let's see what the spectrum looks like..."

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The next morning he stood with them as they got ready to leave for Trollzopolis.

"I'll keep you both updated with the comet, don't worry," he said.

"That would be great! Thank you!" said Jade.

"I hate to leave, but we really need to get home. We've both got classes we're missing," put in Sapphire.

"Oh, I understand," Dr. McTroll replied, "Thanks to your discovery, I'm now a bit behind with papers. You two have a good trip home, and I'll be in touch."

"Thank you, sir, goodbye!" said Sapphire as she got into the passenger seat.

Jade started the car, and pulled out of the parking space. As they headed off, Dr. McTroll waved, then turned back toward the small living quarters.

They were silent on the trip down the mountain, as Jade needed to concentrate on the road, but as soon as they checked out of the hotel and left the town for the highway, that changed.

"Can you believe it? We've got a comet named after us!" said Jade.

"Yeah, it's so exciting!" was the reply, "And it just might be a big event!"

"This is unusual, too," added Jade, "Normally it takes a lot more time for someone to find a new comet."

"I'm glad you know so much about astronomy," said Sapphire, "I really hadn't paid much attention to it."

"Oh, yeah," answered the green-haired troll, "It's my favorite science. After this, I'm thinking of changing my major again, to astronomy."

"Really? You don't want to be my partner any more?" asked Sapphire, a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Are you kidding? Of course I'll stay as your... did you say partner? I thought I was your assistant," said Jade, glancing at the blue eyed troll girl.

"Hey, the comet is named after both of us," said Sapphire with a grin, "I'd say that merits a promotion."

Jade grinned and blushed. "Thanks. You don't know how much that means to me."

"Astronomy is your passion, while I tend more toward physics and chemistry," answered Sapphire, "Between the two of us, we cover a lot of ground."

"Yes, we do," agreed Jade.

"Will you teach me about it?" asked Sapphire.

"You BET I will! And I want you to help me with differential equations," answered Jade, passing a car.

"It'll be my pleasure," sand Sapphire.

"Hey, it'll be around lunch by the time we get home. Want to stop by the mall and eat? My treat," asked Jade.

"Partner, you've got yourself a deal!" laughed Sapphire, and the rest of the trip was very pleasant for both trolls.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Time passed, as it is wont to do.

Just as their Ancients had said, there would be long waits between events where they were needed, and now was one of them.

New Years Day, which happened on the winter solstice, came and found the Best Friends For Life celebrating at home with their parents and siblings. Trollzopolis was too far south for snow or for much in the way of seasons, so it was pleasantly cool. The months passed, and each troll girl had her 19th birthday, and their relationships with their boyfriends grew closer.

Sapphire continued toward her goal of a degree as a General Specialist. Amethyst had finally decided to take Political Science. Onyx took some writing courses and continued to work on the book about their Ancients. Ruby signed up at TCC for a course in Spell Bead Creation. Topaz continued to work at Rock Candy Fashions.

Jade changed her major to Astronomy and continued to work with Sapphire on some private projects.

As promised, Dr. McTroll had kept them appraised of things. The comet showed all the signs of being very large and bright, and well-placed for viewing.

Spring came, and they started planning their 15th annual BFFL Party.

There was a long debate between Mystic Fallz and Trollhiti as the location, now that they knew they could get there easily. In the end Mystic Fallz won by a vote of 3 to 2.

There was also debate about allowing their boyfriends and Jade along. The guys got together and talked, and as much as they wanted to be with their girlfriends, the BFFL Anniversary was a private thing and should stay that way. Jasper also pointed out that, while they were still close, their lives had diverged a bit, and this was a chance to reconnect. Jade agreed with them.

Everyone was at Ruby's house, making last minute adjustments to party plans, and deciding who was going to bring what. That it would be a campout was without question, considering Comet Trollzawa-Trollberger was now visible to the naked eye.

"Well, Miss Comet Queen, are you bringing a telescope?" asked Ruby.

"Jade's loaning me hers," answered Sapphire. She looked at her friends. "You should all bring binoculars, though. The comet will be too big to take in all at once with a telescope."

The other four made a note, Topaz asking Amethyst how to spell 'binoculars' in a whisper.

"B-I-N-O-C-U-L-A-R-S," she answered, "I think it's great that Saph found a comet."

"Yeah, you almost caused the end of the world once, now it's her turn," said Onyx, smirking.

Amethyst blushed, and glared at the dark troll girl.

"What do you mean?" asked Topaz.

"Throughout history comets have been warnings of disasters about to happen," she answered, "I did some research and can give several examples, if you want to hear them."

"Onyx, that's silly," protested Sapphire, "New comets are unpredictable, and there's always some kind of disaster going on somewhere in the world. Any such connection is pure coincidence."

"I dunno..." said Onyx, shaking her head, "What about the one that hit and made the Great Lake like eighty million years ago? That was a huge disaster."

"Well for one, that was an asteroid, not a comet. Completely different," said Sapphire.

"How are they different?" asked Topaz.

"A comet is dust, gas, and ice, with maybe a bit of rock mixed in. An asteroid is a lump of rock and metal, iron and nickel, and as a rule can't be seen without a telescope," was the answer. She looked at Onyx. "And that wasn't a disaster, it was a good thing. It was so huge it changed the climate for the whole planet, killed off the dinosaurs, and let trolls and other intelligences evolve."

"It was a disaster for the dinosaurs," retorted Onyx, crossing her arms.

Sapphire started to answer, paused, and closed her mouth with a snap. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she finally conceded.

Onyx just smirked again.

"Enough with the ancient history," said Ruby, impatiently. "Is it going to hit us?"

Sapphire shook her head. "Not a chance. We've already passed through it's path. That's why it's in such a good position to be seen. It will loop around the sun and head back out into space. Dr. McTroll told me they weren't sure if it would come back or not. They'll have to wait until after it's passed the sun to determine that."

"So we might get to see it again someday?" asked Amethyst.

"That's right," nodded Sapphire.

Topaz giggled. "That is sooo cool!"

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The morning of BFFL Anniversary Day they loaded their skoots with sleeping bags, tents, and food. This time they met at Topaz's house as it was closest to their destination. She still lived with her parents and little brother.

Together they took the road to Trolladelphia to the turnoff to Mystic Fallz Park. Once they arrived they checked in with the office and headed for the spot Amethyst had reserved for them.

She had managed to get the same one they had last time, right in front of the falls. There had been a few improvements since then. A bath house was new, as was the stone grill. The Fallz themselves looked the same, six forty-foot drops to a pool that carried water off to their right. Around them other families were at other spots, enjoying the fine weather of a late spring day.

They parked their skoots out of the way, and started taking out their equipment.

"How long has it been since we were last here?" asked Topaz.

"Five years," answered Amethyst. "Remember after Simon nearly spoiled the party for us we were reluctant to come back."

"Oh, yeah," said Topaz, "I remember those cookies that made us evil. They tasted good, but the aftertaste! Yech!"

"I don't think I'll ever forget that," said Onyx, shuddering. "Never had to hurl so much in my life."

"More ancient history," said Ruby, "Let's get the tents up! I want to party!"

Soon the tents were ready, and a campground grill was being used to make burgers and hot dogs. Amethyst and Onyx were doing the cooking while the others got the table ready. A boom box belted out tunes.

Ruby came over to find Topaz cleaning up a mess. "what happened?"

"Sorry," giggled the blond, nervously, "I kinda had an accident."

Ruby looked at what was broken. "Topaz, those were paper plates! How did you break them?"

"Well, I-" she started to answer.

"And the mustard bottle was plastic! It's in three pieces! What happened?" wondered the redhead, picking up one of the messy pieces of the squeeze bottle.

"I, uh..." said Topaz.

Ruby held up a hand. "On second thought, I don't want to know. Let's just get this cleaned up. Good thing I brought more than enough plates."

"And here's another bottle of mustard," said Sapphire, putting it on the table. She had decided she didn't want to know how Topaz had managed it either.

After lunch they looked at their reflections in the water, and found the good omen that they were together and happy.

"B-F-F-L!" they chanted together, and gave each other a high five.

Later they went swimming, along the way taking a leap over the falls as they had when they were younger.

Once they were done, they finished off the leftovers and rested.

"Man that felt good!" said Ruby, lying back in a fold-up recliner, "It's been too long since we've done anything together."

"Don't say that too loudly," cautioned Onyx, "You might just get what you asked for."

Sapphire advised they should take a nap that afternoon, since the comet wouldn't be up for viewing until about two in the morning. They took her advice, setting their clocks and watches for then.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"C'mon, c'mon, get up! The comet's visible!" said Sapphire, shaking her friends awake.

Sleepily they all came out of their tents, swiping halfheartedly at their hair to get rid of the bed head.

"Got coffee ready, and set up the telescope," said Sapphire.

"You sure are excited," said Topaz, yawning.

"I haven't seen the comet since I spotted it on the monitor. I really want to find out how it's developed since then," she answered, handing her amber-eyed friend a cup fixed the way Sapphire knew she liked it.

The others picked up their cups and took a drink, trusting the brilliant troll girl to have gotten it right, and they were not disappointed.

"I put red plastic over the lens of your flashlights so it won't ruin your night vision," said Sapphire, "And I got your binoculars out." She pointed at them, sitting on the table. "As soon as you've finished your coffee we can go."

Oh, but that was too great a temptation! Ruby, Amethyst, Topaz, and Onyx shared a look and a grin. Then they slowed down drinking their coffee, taking great pleasure with each sip.

Sapphire stood waiting, getting more and more impatient by the minute. She started hopping from one foot to the other, then pacing in a circle. Finally she was almost ready to strangle them to get them to move faster. They ignored her antics and continued to drink. At last Sapphire broke out a spell bead, and they decided the joke had gone on long enough. They all laughed.

"Okay, okay, we were just messing with you!" said Ruby, finishing off her coffee and standing up.

Sapphire looked annoyed, but returned the bead to its place on her bracelet. Then she put several eyepieces in her pocket and picked up the telescope. "I found a good clear spot we can watch from. It's over this way." She led the way, her friends still snickering.

A few minutes walk and they found the clearing. Much of the clear, bright night sky to the south and east was visible.

"There it is!" said Sapphire proudly, pointing.

Overhead there was a streak of white across the sky several times longer than the full moon.

"It looks like some meteors I saw once, only it stays," commented Topaz.

They studied the comet through their binoculars, and Sapphire showed them the nucleus with the telescope. A few more people came over and joined them. The telescope was popular, showing them stars and planets. Finally, though, the sky grew light and the stars and comet disappeared for the day.

The BFFL went back to the tents and ate breakfast before packing up and heading home. It was agreed that it would be a day they would always remember.

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It was three days later when Sapphire came home from classes to find a message waiting.

"Miss Trollzawa, this is Dr. McTroll. I need to speak with you and Miss Trollberger. There's no hurry, but I have some news about the comet you should know. Call me at the Observatory's number when you get a chance. Goodbye."

She immediately called Jade. "Hey, can you come over for a bit? I just got a message from Dr. McTroll."

"I did too," said Jade, "You've got a speakerphone and I don't so I'll be over in a half-hour or so."

"Okay, see you then," said Sapphire, and disconnected.

She ate a light dinner while she waited, and went online to read a paper on an experiment to create a new trollement.

She heard the door when Jade let herself in (they had long since given each other keys to their houses. Jade's parents were glad, since Sapphire had agreed to keep an eye on the place when they went out of town).

They sat in the living room and Sapphire dialed the number, putting it on speaker.

"Hello?" came a familiar voice.

"Dr. McTroll? It's Sapphire Trollzawa and Jade Trollberger, returning your call," she responded.

"Oh, good! Glad you called!" he said, and paused. "Well, no sense in drawing it out. The gravity of our planet is affecting the comet's orbit, and as of yesterday there is an eleven percent chance it's going to hit us after it rounds the sun."

Jade and Sapphire looked at each other. "Well... that's still pretty good odds," Jade said at last.

"True, but it IS a concern. As the discoverers, you do have a right to know," he said.

"what about a public announcement?" asked Sapphire.

"That's the next thing," said McTroll, "One will be made this coming Saturday at the new conference center. We would like you two to be here for it."

"I'm pretty sure I can swing that," said Sapphire.

"Me too," said Jade.

"All right, then. I'll expect you here before noon on Saturday. If the orbit changes again, one way or the other, I'll let you know."

"Thank you sir. See you Saturday," said Sapphire.

"Goodbye," added Jade, and the astronomer rang off.

Sapphire sat back. "This," she announced, "Is SO the drama!"

"Yeah..." said Jade, "I mean, the odds are in our favor, but it's a real possibility."

The friends sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Should we tell anyone?" asked Jade.

"I... don't think so," answered Sapphire, slowly, "It's probably best to make sure everyone knows all the facts at once. And the best way to do that is to wait for the announcement."

"Makes sense. I'm not sure I'd want to tell my parents, anyway." Jade grinned. "They've been so proud of me, finding a comet that everyone's seen by now."

"Mine too," agreed the other. she thought for a few seconds. "Let's tell them we're taking part in a press release about it, and they can tape it for us."

Jade grinned. "Great idea!"

"Say, since you're here, want to go try that magnification spell?" asked Sapphire.

"Sure!" said Jade, standing up.

The partners in science headed for the laboratory in the back of Sapphire's house.

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Sapphire had called her friends, and they met over at Ruby's house to hear her announcement.

"That is sooo neat!" said Amethyst when Sapphire finished telling everyone about Saturday's plans.

"Wow," deadpanned Onyx.

"You get to be on TELEVISION? That's great!" enthused Topaz, clapping.

"It sure is!" said Ruby, "Say, want ME to be your spokes troll?" she primped her hair. "I'd look great on TV."

Sapphire grinned. "I think we can handle it."

"But that's not all, is it?" asked Topaz.

Sapphire looked at her blond friend sharply. "What do you mean?"

"I know you. There's something else and you don't want to tell us," she clarified. "I know! You need a new outfit to be seen on TV!"

"Actually, not a bad idea!" agreed Ruby. "You want to look your best and most professional when you're up there, right?"

"Right," nodded the freckled troll-girl.

"So let's go shopping!" said Amethyst.

Sapphire stood up, hesitated, then sat back down. "Tope's right; there is something else."

"Let's see," said Onyx, "The comet is going to hit the planet and kill off all life."

Everyone but Sapphire laughed. Then the others noticed she wasn't joining in, and stopped.

"I knew it," said Onyx.

"It isn't, is it?" asked Amethyst.

Sapphire looked at her hands as she wrung them together. "There's a little better than ten percent chance it will."

"Is that what the press conference is about?" asked Amethyst.

"Yeah," confirmed Sapphire. "But please keep it to yourselves. I thought you all needed to know, but don't tell ANYBODY! We don't need rumors getting started."

"Okay, we won't," confirmed Ruby.

Onyx looked at Amethyst. "Hey, cheer up. Last time, you brought on the end of the world. Now you're off the hook."

"Oh, that's VERY reassuring, Onyx. Thanks a lot," said Amethyst, but she did smile just a bit.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Saturday morning found Jade and Sapphire at the recently finished conference center in the small town that supported the Mt. Trollamar Observatory. Besides Dr. McTroll, there were several other astronomers there. The turnout of reporters was fairly small, though it was being televised on the Sciences Channel.

Standing in the wings of the stage, Dr. McTroll briefed them on the latest data.

"The comet will be lost in the daylight in another month, and will reach perihelion another month after that. We'll have telescopes waiting to pick it up as soon as possible after that," he told them.

Sapphire nodded. Jade had been tutoring her on astronomy, and she had learned many terms. "Perihelion" meant the closest point to the sun in an orbit.

"Have the odds changed in the last few days, sir?" asked Jade.

"Yes, we got some amateur observations from some reliable sources, and the additional data improves them to twelve percent," he answered.

Jade and Sapphire exchanged a look. "Great," muttered Jade.

"Oh, cheer up," said McTroll, "The comet still has to pass the inner planet, and calculations indicate that most likely it will change the orbit and decrease the odds."

"So what will happen if the odds are improved to a certainty?" asked Sapphire.

McTroll shook his head. "No idea, really. The idea that there may be asteroids and comets out there targeting the world is still fairly new. As far as we know, the last major strike was eighty million years ago.

There's debate in scientific circles about setting up some kind of program specifically looking for threats, but it's still all talk." He paused, then smiled. "I thought it was a good idea, myself. Maybe this will spur some action."

"Hope so," agreed Sapphire, "And in the meantime we've got our own threat to deal with."

McTroll looked at his watch. "Speaking of which, it's nearly noon. Are you two ready?"

"Yes, sir," said Jade and Sapphire in unison.

"Just remember, we're talking to the press. We need to emphasize that the danger is minimal at best, and this is just to let everyone know," he added. "Let's go."

He led the way on stage and stood behind the lectern. The girls stood beside him.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentletrolls, thanks for coming," he began. "I'm Dr. Granite McTroll. You are all aware of the bright comet that has graced our skies for the last month or so. With me are it's discoverers, Miss Sapphire Trollzawa, and Miss Jade Trollberger.

We here at Mt. Trollamar and at other observatories have been studying it since its discovery late last year. Because of its size and spectrum, we strongly suspect this is its first journey through the inner planetary system, and based on the orbit, quite probably its last.

And speaking of its orbit, if things remain as they are, it will pass quite close to our world and never be seen again."

"How close is 'quite close'?" asked a reporter.

"Between us and the inner moon," he answered. "And before you ask, yes, there is a chance it could hit us. But most likely it will give us a spectacular show as it goes by, and we'll have a new meteor shower for years to come.

Astronomically speaking, the world is a very tiny place, and the comet even smaller. In addition, we're moving, the comet is moving, the other planets are moving, and all that means is that it's very unusual for the odds to be as great as they currently are."

"And what are the odds?" asked another reporter, whom Sapphire recognized as Brenda Trollbender, the TV personality who covered the Trollzopolis Dayz Faire that Simon had attacked.

"Right now they stand at twelve percent," said McTroll, taking off his glasses and cleaning them. "But don't forget that means an eighty-eight percent chance it will miss entirely. In fact, we expect its orbit to shift away from us, but we won't know for sure until we find it again after it passes the inner planet and travels around the sun."

"When will that happen?" asked someone in the back of the room.

"Two months," was the reply. "We'll recalculate the orbit as soon as possible."

"I see," said the reporter, "Tell me, girls, how does it feel to have discovered the thing that might destroy the world?"

Jade grinned at the question. "A lot better than if we had CAUSED the end of the world!"

That broke the tension, and everyone laughed.

"what about you, Miss?" asked another.

"Pretty good, actually," answered Sapphire, "The earlier we find the problem, the longer we have to consider the possibilities and find a solution. Forewarned is forearmed, after all."

"what can we do about it?" asked another reporter.

"First, I want to emphasize that most likely nothing will need to be done about it. If you recall, there have been other objects with a similar probability, and nothing happened. It's just that this particular object is bright and well known."

The gasses the comet puts out are mostly water vapor, so if we, say, pass through the tail we'll get a spectacular meteor shower, and nothing else.

"We will keep an eye on its orbit, and let the public know future developments," answered Dr. McTroll.

With a few more questions, the press conference ended. Nobody really noticed that the question of what to do hadn't been answered.

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In due course Comet Trollzawa-Trollberger disappeared into the sun's light, and they had to wait until it moved far enough away from the sun to be seen again to determine what changes had been made to its orbit.

Sapphire and Jade were at the Observatory with Dr. McTroll as the measurements were taken and the data run through the computer.

The answer finally appeared, and the scientist looked at it.

"Not what we hoped for at all," he said, "There is now an eighty-six percent chance it will hit."

"Great," muttered Sapphire, "Onyx has been razzing me for months about causing the end of the world. Now I won't hear the end of it until it happens. And maybe not even then."

Despite the concern, Jade snorted in laughter.

"Let's see..." said McTroll, "If I add the inner planet and ours into the simulation..." He typed commands rapidly, and the computer took a minute to chew it over. The display changed again.

"The positions and masses of the moons..." he muttered, accessing a database of the physical properties of the planets and moons.

"And that makes it almost a certainty," he said, sitting back, "Ninety-eight point eight percent."

Jade's giggle fit ended abruptly, and she gasped.

"How long do we have, sir?" asked the blue-haired troll girl. She put on her glasses and looked at the monitor.

"Three months, five days," he answered. "Excuse me, I need to contact the Astronomer's Union and the government." He picked up the phone.

The two students stayed until the projected place on the planet where the comet would hit was determined- somewhere in the southern hemisphere's part of the ocean west of the Troll Nation.

Depending on how much mass the comet had, there would be tsunamis generated that would do a lot of damage to the coasts.  
Trollhiti would likely cease to exist as an inhabited place. Since Trollzopolis was a hundred and fifty miles inland, the water wouldn't reach it, but there would still be a lot of damage, possibly from superheated water and debris. Really, though, there was no way to know what would happen until it did, so everything that might happen would have to be considered, and decisions made.

The best thing would be to prevent the collision, but how?

The end of the world was coming, and nobody had any idea what to do about it.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Sapphire got home somewhat after eleven P.M.. Alabaster had taken her out for a nice dinner, and afterwards they went to see the revival of Trollight Express at the downtown theater. She blushed a bit at the... more personal activity they engaged in later. She was sure the blond, glasses-wearing man as smart as she was going to propose as soon as he worked up the courage. For her part, she was working up the courage to say 'yes'.

They had discussed the comet, and possible courses of action, but none were very promising. With his father's permission he pledged himself and his family's resources to helping in any way they could. Since the Trollington family was very rich and owned many diverse companies, this could make a major difference in the outcome of the comet strike.

But still, they hadn't come up with a solution.

She researched the last known strike, an asteroid that hit and formed the Great Lake. It had been huge, and changed the climate of the entire world. The comet wasn't nearly as big, nor had as much mass, but would be a disaster without doubt.

Since the event was still a couple of months away, the place where the comet would hit was only the most probable, not a certainty. Land or water would make a difference.

She continued to think about it while getting ready for bed, going over the resources she knew of, the teachers and scientists she had met, anything and everything that could potentially help.

She fell asleep, still thinking.

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Amethyst was brushing up on a chapter in her textbook on dealing with the Gremlin Nation. Her natural ability as an arbiter between her friends when they had a fight had easily transferred to the far larger field of diplomatic relations. In the exercises they ran at school she consistently scored the highest of anyone in class.

This looming disaster would likely be the most important exercise in diplomacy anyone would ever have. She felt sure the government had contacted the Gremlin Nation and Ogre Nation and told them, even though there was no word of anything like that on the news.

But what of the other races? Trolls had the first and most advanced civilization in the world. The gremlins were second, but ogres and orcs and goblins were slow to adopt anything new, and the pixies pretty much ignored most manufactured things.

No, saving the world was up to the trolls.

The Troll Nation government's Disaster Division had already begun discussions, but as far as she knew no course of action had been agreed on. The time to decide what to do had to be taken, but it was running out.

She wished she was out of class and part of a diplomatic team sent to help the other races understand and prepare. But on the other hand, she was an Ancient. Protecting everyone was a higher priority, but right now she wasn't needed.

She had to trust her friends to find a solution, and then take her part in it.

Sighing in defeat, the pink-haired troll girl settled in for a fitful night's sleep.

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Ruby was frustrated. She lay in bed, thinking of every effect of every spell bead she had ever heard of, trying to find a way to stop the comet.

Without success.

She simply didn't know enough to be useful in finding a solution. It made her feel stupid, and she wasn't stupid. All right, admittedly she didn't understand the science, but she did understand the situation and the danger. There had to be something that could be done!

She got out of bed and padded over to the window, looking up at the stars.

That comet was huge, some five miles across. No spell bead ever made, even with the Magic of the Five, could affect it in any real way. All the power they could muster together wouldn't be anything like enough. The idea of using magic was a dead end, and that was all she knew enough about to say with any certainty.

She turned back to her bed, and stopped.

Wait a minute... what about a bigger spell bead? That was theoretically possible. It was even possible to calculate the amount of materials needed to affect something that size. Sapphire could write a program to do just that. It didn't matter how big the bead was, anyone with enough basic magic could activate it. The bigger the bead, the wider the effect.

The redhead grinned to herself. Now we're getting somewhere!

Okay... so, let's assume we have a spell to use (never mind what right now), and a bead big enough to affect the comet. How do we get it there?

She hadn't paid much attention in the past, but knew that rockets existed that could take materials weighing tons into space, and she knew there was a space station up there. A rocket could take the bead to the comet! Yes!

So, let's put it together: decide on a spell to use, then make a bead big enough to be effective and put it on a rocket and send it there! Problem solved!

Excited, she ran over and grabbed her phone, sitting on the bed. She had hit one number when a problem occurred to her. She snapped it closed.

Yeah, they could get the bead to the comet, but how would they activate it from here? While studying with Obsidian she had learned that a bead could only be activated by a troll who was either holding it or close enough for her personal magic to work. Being Ancients their magic had a much longer range for that purpose, but not over thousands of miles. She doubted even using the Sacred Altar would help.

she flopped back on the bed. Darn it! She was so close!

The red-eyed troll girl lay there for some time, trying to think of a way around this new problem, but couldn't. Finally she gave up for the night and got back into bed, slowly dozing off.

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Onyx lay on her bed at home, trying to relax. The problem of the comet and what to do about it was taking up more and more of her time. and said time was getting short.

Her passion for history had grown over the last several years, and she felt strongly that a solution could be found in the past. But what? What events could suggest how to stop a comet from destroying the world? And if that wasn't possible, some way of preserving civilization and as many lives as possible?

It would take a lot of trolls working together, that much she was sure of. There weren't many times in recorded history where so many trolls had done so. In fact, she could think of only one- when an army was gathered. And that hadn't happened in a couple of hundred years.

Trolls did not fight trolls. That shameful event was very far in the past, thank goodness, and (despite isolated incidents) peace reigned between the races so there was no standing military as such. A militia could be raised if events warranted, but that was as far as it went.

Deciding to get a good night's sleep to clear her head, Onyx rolled over on her right side and closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind and doze. For several minutes she moved, rolled, and adjusted. but couldn't get comfortable. Something was nagging at her, telling her a solution was at hand.

Annoyed she sat up, turning on the light on the nightstand. Looking around her room, her eyes finally settled on her notes for the book about the Ancients. Going over to them, she started leafing through, looking for... she didn't know what.

Finally putting them down she looked over where she had the Ancient's diaries (or journals) stored to use as research for her book. It would be a lot of work, going through them for whatever it was tickling her memory, but she'd never forgive herself if the solution was there and she hadn't looked because of the trouble it took.

By now she was fairly familiar with the Ancient's exploits, and knew without question they had never tackled a comet.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

Was there a... parallel problem they had solved? What we've got is a falling rock (okay, ice cube) that was going to smash everything.

'Rock falling, rock falling...' she thought, leaning back in the chair.

She gasped, leaning forward to the boxes of journals. Pulling over Spinel's box, she rifled through them until she found one marked 1411 - 1460. Putting it on the desk she flipped through until she found the entry she wanted.

Fourteen fifty-seven... steady rains for weeks was causing mudslides and rockslides above a cluster of villages at the foot of the mountains to the south. Lives had been lost. Not long after they got there, they discovered a huge boulder was slowly working loose. When it dropped (and it was matter of when, not if) it would destroy a lot of homes.

When it broke loose and started rolling, they used the Magic of the Five to create a large portal and let the boulder roll into it. It came out past the villages and dropped into a canyon where it formed a dam creating a lake behind it.

Onyx put down the brittle, browned book. That was it! That was what they needed! She picked up the phone, then put it down again. They were meeting tomorrow, anyway, so why disturb everyone?

She went into the kitchen for a snack, and think about the idea. She would tell them tomorrow. She smiled. Their Ancients were still helping them.

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Topaz slept soundly the entire night, relaxed and unconcerned.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The five Ancients met at Sapphire's house to discuss ideas for preventing the disaster. She showed them in and they settled into the comfortable chairs and couch in the living room.

"Hope you don't mind if Jade sits in," said Sapphire.

"Of course not," answered Amethyst, "She should be here, since she's your partner."

"Thanks, Amethyst," nodded Jade.

"Okay, let's get started," said Onyx. "I found a possible solution last night in Spinel's journal."

"That's good news!" said Topaz.

"Yep!" agreed the dark troll girl. She sat back and folded her arms. She started to continue speaking, but was interrupted.

"So what is it, already?" asked Ruby.

"I found a reference where, centuries ago, to save some villages from a huge boulder our Ancients used a portal spell to move it past them, where it became a dam for a new lake," was the answer, glaring at Ruby.

Sapphire looked thoughtful, as did Jade.

"I don't see how that will help," said Topaz, "We're dealing with something much, much larger, moving much faster, and made of something different."

"That's new," thought Onyx, "Tope's actually focused and saying relevant things."

"At least, that's if I understood right," the blond added, uncertainty creeping into her tone.

"You did, Topaz," nodded Jade. Over the months since making up with Sapphire, being in company with Topaz and the rest had shown her how they really were, which was far different than how Coral had pretended. Topaz was a ditz, but wasn't stupid.

Topaz grinned and wiped pretend sweat off her brow. "Whew!"

"It's the same kind of thing," explained Onyx, "A huge object falling down that will cause a lot of damage and kill people. What it's made of doesn't matter."

Topaz wrinkled her brow in concentration. "Oh, yeah, I see, now."

"The comet is nearly five miles across," said Sapphire, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the boulder wasn't anything like that big."

"Spinel didn't say how big it was in the journal, but I got on line and looked it up. The river it dammed was about twenty seven feet wide," answered Onyx.

"How are we supposed to portal something as big as the comet?" asked Amethyst. "There's no way! All our power together, even using the Sacred Altar, isn't going to be enough."

"Could we add more people?" asked Topaz, "What about that ogre magician? He was strong. And Sardonyx can help."

"To answer your question, Topaz, we can't add more people. The Magic of the Five is a balance, and more people won't add power, just make it more likely go wrong," said Sapphire.

"And that's where I come in and give the solution!" bragged Ruby. She sat back and looked smug.

Everyone in the room looked at her, surprised.

"You like making drama, but this isn't the time or place," growled Onyx, "Just tell us."

Ruby frowned and sat up. "Spoilsport. But there is something we can do. We can make a spell bead big enough to do it!"

Topaz' eyes grew wider. "That would be a huge spell bead!"

"Yes, it would," nodded Ruby, "But knowing what I know, it's possible. Sapphire, if I give you the ingredients and ratios, can you calculate the size and amounts?"

"Not a problem," answered the blue-haired troll, nodding. She went off into her own world, thinking of writing a computer program to do it.

"That's a great idea, Ruby!" enthused Amethyst.

"Yeah, I like it!" agreed Topaz.

Onyx gave a thumbs up, and Jade nodded.

Ruby sat back again, enjoying the accolades she so richly deserved. And then she was brought crashing down to earth again.

Onyx cocked an eye at Ruby. "I hate to spoil the praise-a-thon... no, on second thought, I don't. How are we supposed to get the bead to the comet? Levitation spells don't fly that high."

Ruby's shoulders slumped. "I hadn't figured that out yet."

"The most obvious method is a rocket," said Sapphire. "They make them big enough to get a probe weighing tons to another planet, so even an oversized spell bead wouldn't be a problem."

"Actually I did think of that. But we can't activate it from here. Our magic doesn't have the range," said Ruby.

"Then you really didn't find a solution, did you?" smirked Onyx.

"Hey, it's more than you've done!" retorted the red-eyed troll.

"Hah. I at least found a spell that could do it," said Onyx, smirk growing wider.

"Guys!" Amethyst interrupted, forcefully, "This isn't the time!"

"Let me make sure I understand," said Jade, "The idea is to make a huge spell bead for a portal big enough to take in the comet and send it past the world. We can launch it in a rocket, but there is no way to activate it from the ground, even with the Sacred Altar amplifying the magic?"

"That's right," nodded Sapphire, "You have a suggestion?"

The green-haired girl thought for a moment. "Yeah. Talk to Mr. Trollobite."

"What's he supposed to do?" asked Ruby.

"Well, we have a partial solution, but none of us know enough to use it," she explained, "If we explain it to him, he might know who can make it work."

"And we can't be egotistical about it," said Amethyst, "Just because we're the Ancients now it doesn't mean we don't need help. I mean, come on, we're still pretty young. We don't know EVERYTHING!"

"You're right, Am," agreed Onyx.

"Yeah, I need help all the time!" said Topaz with a giggle.

"Yeah, we know," muttered Ruby, but not very loudly.

Amethyst did hear her, and glared. Ruby grinned weakly and decided to change the subject.

"Okay, then. Our next step is to formalize our proposal as much as we can, and present it to Mr. Trollobite. Then hope he has some way of completing it."

"Give me a day to write the program for the spell bead," said Sapphire.

"I'll look up what kind of rocket is needed," said Jade.

"Here's the list of ingredients," said Ruby, taking folded paper from her purse and giving it to Sapphire.

At the blue-haired troll's look, she sat back, affronted. "What? I DO think ahead, you know!"

"Whatever," said Sapphire, unfolding the paper.

"What's wrong, Tope?" asked Amethyst. She had noticed the blond was unhappy.

"I haven't done anything to help," was the reply. She hung her head. "I'm just useless."

"Hey, I haven't done much either," said Amethyst.

"More than I have," said Topaz, still looking down. "Onyx came up with the spell, Ruby suggested the giant spell bead, Jade and Sapphire are going to make it work, and you've kept everyone focused and hopeful."

"You are NOT useless!" said Ruby, forcefully.

"Absolutely not!" agreed Sapphire.

Jade hesitated, not wanting to intrude, then added "Yeah. They can't do without you."

"Topaz, this kind of planning isn't your strong suit," said Amethyst, "But your turn will come, I promise."

The amber-eyed troll smiled. "Okay."

"Come on in the kitchen," said Sapphire, putting away the paper, "I put out some drinks and snacks."

That suggestion was met with approval from all.

As they stood in the kitchen, enjoying homemade cookies from Jade's mom, a thought occurred to Amethyst.

"Ruby, Saph, I have a question," she said, getting her friend's attention. "What about how far the portal will send the comet? I mean, we can make portals for ourselves with a range of a thousand miles now. But we're talking hundreds of thousands, if not millions."

Sapphire's eyes grew wide. This was a new problem.

"I hadn't thought of that!" said Ruby. "But I know how to find out. Obsidian made notes about all kinds of spell beads, and the range of portal spells is part of it. I can look it up."

"When you do, let me know," said Sapphire, "I can factor it into the program."

"Okay," nodded Ruby, "But right now I want some more of these cookies!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

A day later, Sapphire had finished the program and gotten the results. Making the bead would take a lot of amber, and they wanted to make at least two- use one and one for backup.

The BFFL had another conference, and Sapphire and Amethyst volunteered to write the proposal. Amethyst helped balance the report, which would be heavily scientific and beyond the general government official had it been left to just Sapphire.

They took a Saturday to write it, and then contacted Mr. Trollobite for a meeting.

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Sapphire and Ruby sat in a conference room in the Trollzopolis Government Building talking to their liaison, Mr. Trollobite. The room was nicely appointed and had a table with six chairs. They had been told it was set aside specifically for meetings with the Ancients, and used for nothing else. This surprised both girls, and showed them again just how important they were.

The middle-aged troll was lavender-haired, and wore a tie to match. He very much resembled his father, and even sounded somewhat like him.

"Nice to see you all again," he said. "I understand you have a way of helping with the comet crisis?"

They explained their idea, and he listened carefully. He didn't know much about magic, but he trusted the Ancients.

"I think this is a great idea!" he told them, "I've been kept up to date on meetings about the crisis, and so far this is the best."

Ruby grinned, but held her peace.

"I'll pass this along to the Comet Committee, and get back to you as soon as I can," he said.

"Comet Committee? What's that?" asked Sapphire.

"The Emergency Agency has set up a committee just to deal with the comet. They have a lot of power and leeway to getting things ordered and done," he explained.

"I see. I've contacted Trollington Industries, and they are willing to provide the necessary equipment," said Sapphire, "I've given Alabaster the specs and he's assembling materials to build the cauldron,"

"Supply sources for the ingredients have been contacted, and all have promised to put aside an order for us," said Ruby.

"That will save a lot of time," nodded Trollobite.

"All I need is the go-ahead," said Ruby. "Getting the amber is going to be a problem, though. Production can't be rushed, and the Amber Society is reluctant to use the reserves."

Trollobite looked at her. "Reluctant? Why? This is the possible end of civilization we're looking at! Any and every resource should be made available."

"They are thinking long-term," Ruby explained, "If the disaster is stopped, spell bead production will be slowed or stopped until the amber can be replaced. But if it does happen, it will be best if there were a lot of beads handy, along with the ability to make more. Especially like ones for curing wounds."

"Hmmm..." said the liaison, thoughtfully.

"Once they explained, I agreed with their reasons," said Ruby. "But amber is already being put aside."

"I agree as well," put in the blue-haired troll. "People will need help if things go wrong."

"I'm really worried about how to activate the bead when it gets there," said Ruby, "I've been studying Obsidian's records, but haven't found any way to do so."

"Amethyst and I have written out the problems clearly in the report," said Sapphire. "That's the major one, of course."

"Very thorough," the older troll replied. "You make a good showing as the Ancients."

Both girls blushed at the unexpected compliment.

"I'll see to it this gets to the Committee as soon as possible," he added. He took the papers and put them in a folder, then looked at them.

"If there's nothing else concerning the comet, I do have another matter," he said.

"Sure," nodded Ruby.

"The phone company wanted to know how the tPhone prototypes you were given are doing," he said.

Ruby pulled hers out. "I love it," she said with a grin.

"Me too," agreed Sapphire. "The apps I downloaded make it as useful as a notebook, except the keyboard is too small to use for an extended period."

"And that's understandable. I'll pass that along as well," Trollobite said.

And with that, the meeting ended.

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It was six days later when Ruby was contacted by Mr. Trollobite, who wanted another conference. They were also told to give the go signal for making the spell beads.

Once in the conference room, Mr. Trollobite wasted no time.

"As I said, the Committee has given the go ahead for making the beads," he told the girls.

There was mingled relief and relaxation around the room.

"We told the people we needed to right after you called," said Ruby, "And so far no problems except getting enough amber, and that will be done in another five or six days. I'd say the beads will be ready within ten days."

"I'll tell the Committee," promised Trollobite.

"So they've figured out what to do?" asked Amethyst.

"Well, they have a proposed solution for the activation problem," he grinned. "Any of you have a problem with heights?"

"Not really," said Amethyst. "What do you mean?"

"Since you have to be fairly close to a spell bead to activate it, the only way for this to work is for you to deliver it to the comet yourselves," he explained.

That took all of ten seconds to sink in.

"You... want us to go there?" said Sapphire, stunned.

"That's right," Trollobite said, "The Committee feels that using the Magic of the Five to make the portal big enough is the only way. And you five are the only trolls who can activate the bead from a safe distance."

"I don't get it," said Topaz, looking around, "Where are we going?"

"Outer space," replied Onyx, "Into the vast reaches of unknown black emptiness where no troll has gone before." She grinned. "Sounds like my kind of place."

"Outer space?" said Topaz, "You mean, up there?" She pointed up.

"That's right, Tope," nodded Sapphire.

The blond ditz thought for a few seconds. "I've never been there before. What kind of accessories will I need? And if it's all black, anything I've got will go with it."

"Ah..." said Trollobite, at a loss for what to say.

"Maybe I'd better get some new outfits anyway," mused Topaz, "I want to look my best."

"Topaz," said Ruby, "This is space. There won't be anyone else there."

"Oh," said the amber-eyed troll, disappointed.

"I was told to tell you you'll need some training on the equipment first," said Trollobite, "The head of the space agency will call you with details in the next few days."

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The new Ancients met at the mall food court later that afternoon to discuss plans and scheduling.

"I need to supervise making the beads, so I can't go to the space center until after. But if the rest of you want to go earlier, don't let me stop you," said Ruby.

"Not a chance," said Onyx, "We stick together."

"Yeah, I want everybody with me," said Topaz.

"I'm helping Alabaster with making the cauldron," said sapphire, "So I can't go either.

"I'm with the others," added Amethyst, "Unless there's a good reason, we'll all go after the beads are made."

"what are you grinning about?" Onyx asked Sapphire.

"We're going into space! Isn't that enough?" said the blue-haired troll.

Onyx rolled her eyes. "It's going to be dangerous, and there are a lot of ways things can go wrong."

"Yeah..." agreed Sapphire, the stars in her eyes obvious to all, "But we're going into SPACE!"

"It might be fun," put in Topaz.

"Nothing wrong with that, as long as we take care of the job," said Amethyst.

"Oh, we will," said Ruby, looking smug, "We're the Ancients. We can do anything."

Onyx shook her head. 'Just like Ruby to call down fate on us,' she thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Alabaster Trollington III stood wearing a hard hat and holding a clipboard. Right beside him Sapphire did the same. Nearby, Ruby checked the bags of ingredients lying on a pallet while Topaz, Amethyst, and Onyx looked over the warehouse floor for any debris that could contaminate the cauldron.

An enormous cast-iron pot had been made, and was seated over a hydrogen fueled furnace whose temperature could be controlled precisely.

Everything else had been moved out, except for several tables and chairs, along with everything else needed for what would be the largest spell beads ever made. Three cameras at different places recorded the entire event.

"Is everything and everyone clear, Topaz?" asked Alabaster, looking up from his notes.

"Yep!" giggled the blond, "The emergency crew got here a few minutes ago and are waiting outside."

"Sapphire, man the computer, if you please," he said.

"Right," agreed his girlfriend. Sitting down she pulled down her reading glasses and proceeded to type commands. Looking over the results, she looked up. "Ready. The furnace is steady and the water is at the correct temperature and volume."

"Thank you," he nodded, then turned to Ruby. "All set. Time for you to take charge." "Like she has any problem doing that," muttered Onyx, and Topaz giggled. They went over and took chairs by the snack table.

Ruby, however, didn't hear, concentrating on the job at hand.

"Okay, I want this bag in first," she said, pointing at the one on top.

Rock lifted the bag so Coal, who was driving the claw, could grab it. It was lifted above the pot and held over it. Jasper, standing on a scaffold by the pot slit the bag and made sure all the contents went in.

Flint sat nearby, guitar in hand. "How about some music to make spell beads by?" He started strumming the instrument, making a quiet tune.

Onyx and Topaz started swaying to it.

"That's decent," Onyx, said closing her eyes.

"Yeah," agreed Topaz with a grin.

Amethyst came over by them and did the same. "I like it too."

Coal dropped the burlap sack away from the cauldron, and swung the claw around.

"That one next," Ruby directed, tapping the bag in question.

"You got it, Ruby Roo!" said Rock, stooping to grab it.

The operation proceeded as planned, with all the ingredients added in the correct order. After an hour's wait for everything to mix, the bottles of amber were taken to the scaffold and poured in. Then Ruby made several passes with her hands and muttered an incantation.

It took several minutes, but finally a dark red spell bead the size of a basketball lifted slowly from the pot. Coal took the claw and deftly grabbed it, moving it over to a container made especially for it.

About a minute later a second bead appeared and was added to the box.

"That's it, shut down the furnace," called Ruby, and Sapphire did so from the computer.

As the redhead joined the others, Alabaster addressed her. "After it cools, I'll have the pot cleaned and put in storage, in case it's needed again."

"Thanks," said Ruby, "But I really hope it won't be."

"Better to be safe than sorry," he answered, "We might not have as much warning next time."

The BFFL and their boyfriends ate a catered lunch as the beads cooled before closing their container and getting it on the truck for delivery to the airport.

Topaz stooped beside them and looked closely, Ruby beside her.

"Wow, those are the biggest spell beads I've ever seen," giggled the blond.

"Yeah, me too. And with any luck will be the last ones this big ever made," answered the redhead. She held a hand near a bead, but it was still too hot to touch. A regular sized bead would be cooled very shortly after being taken from the pot.

"You did good," said Topaz, looking at her friend.

Ruby started to preen and say "Of course!" but stopped. "We all did," she finally said.

Overhearing, Onyx smiled to herself. Ruby was growing up.

bffl bffl bffl

Two days later the new Ancients were ready to leave for the spaceport. A private jet had been arranged and was waiting for them. Their parents, boyfriends, and Jade were there to see them off.

Alabaster and Sapphire were the last to part.

"S-Sapphire, I... uh, that is, I have a very important question to ask you..." said Al, adjusting his glasses.

Sapphire's eyes and smile grew wider. "What is it?"

"Uh... uh... oh, did you remember your favorite sweater?" he finally said, sweating bullets.

The brilliant troll-girl's smile vanished.

"Oh, no," said Alabaster, drawing himself up, "That's not it."

She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head.

"I- I- I'll ask when you get back," he said, turning red.

A moment later she gave a gentle smile. She was as nervous as he was. "Okay, I can wait."

They hugged, and then kissed, heedless of anyone watching. Then they separated.

"Good luck!" said Al, "And come home safe!"

"We will!" was the reply, and Sapphire hurried through the gate.

bffl bffl bffl

Except for the steward, they were alone on the plane.

Taking seats, the steward informed them the spell beads had been loaded, along with their luggage, and the flight would take about three hours.

On the flight they watched the TNN special on the coming comet, which was giving advice on the best ways to stay safe if the Ancient's plan failed.

There wasn't really anywhere to go, so staying put and making sure there was enough food and water were priorities. The evacuation of Trollhiti would begin in another week, as was the island where San Trollpez lay. Inhabitants of Ogre Island and the Ogre Mainland were also being warned.

"We've got the fate of the world riding on our shoulders," said Amethyst, "But I say we're ready to take that burden."

"I hope so," said Onyx, "A lot of people, troll or other, will die if we fail."

"The plan is sound. The execution is going to be a bit tricky, but all the numbers say it's do-able," said Sapphire.

"I have confidence it the plan, and us," said Ruby.

"Yeah, me too!" added Topaz.

"You do understand what we're about to do, right?" asked Amethyst.

"Sure! Fly to the comet and use the giant beads to get rid of it!" was the answer.

"By George, I think she's got it!" said Onyx.

Topaz looked at her friends and grinned.

bffl bffl bffl

Approaching the airport they got their first look at the huge inland lake that was gouged out of the living earth by an asteroid eighty million years earlier. On its western shore sat the spaceport.

Rockets were launched toward the east, over the lake, and it was used to catch the spent stages. A few small towns sat along the shore as well.

Catching a chartered bus they arrived at the spaceport in time to see a shuttle launch. It looked like a airplane, but was powered by rockets at the back. It sat at one end of a runway.

The rockets powered up and the hover mechanism was activated, allowing the wheels to be retracted. The vehicle moved smoothly down the runway and nosed up, disappearing into the sky over the lake.

"That's what we're going up in, Topaz," said Sapphire, pointing.

"Oh, okay..." said the blond, a little unsurely.

They were led into the building at the runway's start and taken to a comfortable room with several couches and a few drink and snack machines against one wall. A TV was set on one wall, and the remote on an end table.

"Your guide will be here shortly," said the troll woman who had met them.

Getting what they wanted, they sat down to wait. Ruby turned on the TV, and they started watching a daytime drama series they all liked, "Trolls of our Lives".

It was some ten minutes later when the door opened.

"So we meet again, at last!" said a familiar voice.

The TV was turned off and the BFFL turned to see the speaker. They were in for a shock.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The BFFL stood up, staring at the person who had just come in.

"SHALE?" they chorused.

The troll woman was in her mid-twenties, wearing a powder-blue coverall and boots. There was a Troll Nation flag on her left shoulder and a name tag with "Trollson" engraved on it over her left breast. On her right shoulder was the logo patch for the Shuttle Pegasus.

She had dark skin, medium blue eyes and navy blue hair. A spell bead bracelet was on her left wrist. She had a clipboard with a thick stack of paper on it in her left hand.

"That's me!" she said, grinning, "Been a while, huh?"

The five troll-girls clustered around her, very surprised, but happy.

"Well, this is a surprise," said Ruby, "Haven't seen you since you graduated."

"Well, I have been keeping busy," she answered, "I always wanted to be a space shuttle pilot, and I worked hard to make that dream come true."

"You're going to be our pilot?" asked Amethyst.

"Yep. When I heard about the mission and who was going up, I jumped at the chance," Shale explained, "Besides, considering what's planned for the mission, they wanted the best pilot available, and that's me."

"Really?" asked Onyx, raising a black eyebrow.

"Really," nodded Shale. "I was a pretty good driver and skoot racer back in high school, and that skill transferred easily."

"Speaking of skoot racing, how is Mica?" asked Ruby, "You two still together, married, what?"

The smile vanished, and Shale closed her eyes, letting her head drop. "Mica's dead."

"DEAD!" said Amethyst, utterly shocked.

Sapphire was speechless.

"Sorry to hear that," said Onyx, thinking of the race she and Mica had back in high school, and how they were arrested for illegal skoot racing.

"Oh, no!" said Topaz, "What happened?"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" said Ruby.

"It's okay," said Shale, "Been five years now. Right out of high school he joined the pro skoot racing circuit. Three laps into his first race he lost control and crashed. Died instantly, I was told."

"Oh, that's awful!" said Topaz, tears running.

"Well, he DID get to meet T-Rex before it happened," said Shale, and a ghost of a smile returned to her lips.

Sapphire stood, blushing. She and Mica had been an item, briefly. But it turned out he wanted her for her engineering skills, nothing else. Tears started running, and she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

"Sapphire?" said Shale, reaching over and pulling her into a hug. "It'll be okay. It took a long time, but I got over it. You will too."

"Thanks, Shale," said Sapphire, returning the hug. "I had no idea."

"I understand," said the other, letting go. "But we're still friends, and since we all knew him, I hope we will be closer now."

"Count on it," said Amethyst.

"What about your girl friend, what was her name?" asked Topaz, "The one who always wore teal."

This time Shale did smile. "Nikki? We're still friends. She's a stay-at-home mom now. She married another pilot, and they live in the town."

"Nice to know," nodded the blond.

Shale looked at her clipboard. "We need to go. There's a briefing in a few minutes, and you don't need to be late."

They followed Shale down the corridor to a conference room and took seats. A few minutes later the head of the Space Exploration Group came in and stood behind the lectern at the front. To the left was a projection screen. He was in his fifties, with gray predominating his purple hair, which stood out from his head like a candle flame. He was wearing a regular business suit.

"Good morning, ladies," he said, "I'm Dr. Trollstone. So, you are the new Ancients, and the ones who will save the world."

"We're going to do our best, sir," nodded Sapphire.

"I hope so," he replied, "And that's why we're sending you with Ms. Trollson. She's the best pilot we've got."

"We've known Shale since high school, and we trust her," said Amethyst.

Shale blushed, barely visible on her dark skin, and smiled.

"Very good," nodded Trollstone, "Let's get started." He tapped a button on the lectern and the room darkened. The screen came to life with a picture of an ungainly craft moored off the single space station troll civilization had built. It appeared to be a tangle of pipes and cylinders and cubes that had been squashed together by a giant child, rather than a spacecraft.

"This is the Phoenix," he said, "An experimental craft that uses hover physics to travel instead of rockets. It's currently the only thing we have with even a remote chance of getting you to the comet before it's too late."

"Excuse me sir," interrupted Sapphire, "Did you say it uses hover physics?"

"That's right," the older troll nodded.

"How is that possible? At a couple hundred miles altitude the hover effect is too weak to be noticeable," she said. She noticed her friends were looking at her blankly. "The closer to the ground, the better the repulsion," she added for their benefit.

"Theoretical physicists stumbled across a way around that," the scientist answered. "You can get details from them. There will be ample opportunity to do so over the next few weeks.

Anyway, the Phoenix is being outfitted for the mission. That shuttle launch you might have seen when you got here was the habitation module being taken up.

"Is that thing safe?" asked Topaz, looking worried. "It looks like... well, nothing I can think of."

"We need to meet the comet as far away as possible," said Ruby, "As long as it gets us there and back in one piece, I'm happy and don't care what it looks like."

"It was built in space and will never land," said Shale, "So it doesn't have to be streamlined. I've taken it for a few test runs, and it works."

"Okay..." said Topaz, staring at the picture.

"Anyway, you'll spend the next several days training in space suits and emergency procedures before going up to the station. The beads will go with you," said Trollstone.

He changed the slide. "Once everything is ready, you'll embark on the Phoenix and spend five days traveling to the comet. Also aboard is a robot the station uses to put satellites into orbit, or bring them back. It will carry the bead to the comet, where you'll activate it.

Once the danger is over, the trip back will take another five days."

Sapphire raised her hand. "Sir, what about food and water and air?"

"There will be more than plenty of all aboard, thanks to using magically-enhanced containers," he answered. "But there is a down side to using the Phoenix."

The next slide was pulled up. It showed a cutaway drawing of the Phoenix.

"There wasn't time or room to build a luxury edition of the habitation module. The ship's controls are in it, as are chairs and supplies, but... I'm afraid you'll have to live in your space suits the entire time."

"But... that means I can't take my outfits!" protested Topaz.

"That's right," nodded Amethyst.

"There is a weight limit, too," added Trollstone.

Topaz sat back in a huff. "That stinks."

"We will too, unfortunately," said Sapphire.

The other four BFFL looked at her. Shale had a knowing smile on her lips.

"Didn't you hear what Dr. Trollstone said?" she clarified, "We'll have to live in space suits for the entire trip. That means no bathing."

"EWWWWW!" all five women said.

The sixth snickered. "Been there, done that."

"Sorry about that, but like I said, we don't have time to develop a more comfortable life-support module," said Trollstone.

"Well, this is going to be an... interesting trip," said Amethyst.

"Yeah," put in Onyx, "It's a test. This will show us just how close we really are."

"That's the preliminaries," said Trollstone, "Any questions?"

There was silence for a few moments. They hadn't really heard the question because they were thinking of not being able to bathe for two weeks.

"All right, then. Ms. Trollson, take charge and get them oriented. Training starts tomorrow morning."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

The next morning the Ancients were picked up from the hotel and taken to the training center, where Shale met them. She led them to the locker room and showed them their assigned lockers.

Inside were green jumpsuits and boots. Each had the Troll Nation flag and a name tag, but along with the shuttle patch was an oval one over the right breast.

"What's this for?" asked Ruby, pointing it out.

Shale smiled. "It's the mission patch. Take a closer look."

The symbolism was clear: A yellow circle on the right side was the sun, with the comet passing around behind it and aiming for a blue circle with five stars rising from it. Each star was a different color. All this was on a black background with a gray outline. (1)

Ruby, Sapphire, and Amethyst smiled. Even Onyx looked pleased. A space mission patch for them! What an honor!

"This is great! Thanks!" said Amethyst.

"I have one too," said Shale. She was wearing a flight jacket to conceal her copy. She hadn't wanted to spoil the surprise. She took off the jacket and went to her locker.

"Hey, those stars have our hair colors!" giggled Topaz.

"Well, duh!" said Ruby, that's supposed to be us!"

Topaz gave her an odd look. "Really?"

"Really. It symbolizes us stopping the comet," said Sapphire.

"Oh..." said the blond ditz. "I don't get it, but if you say so..." she shrugged and started undoing the buttons on her blouse.

A few minutes later they were all dressed.

"well..." said Topaz, looking at herself in a mirror against one wall, "These jumpsuits are weak, but at least we all match!"

"We don't have time for fashion, Tope," said Ruby, "We've got to save the world. Now, let's go!" She turned and followed Shale out the door. The others followed.

"There's ALWAYS time for fashion!" protested Topaz. Then she noticed no one else was there. She sighed and followed her friends.

bffl bffl bffl

The next two weeks were hectic, as they were poked and prodded and tested by the base medical staff and put through a number of other medical exams. As long as a troll was fairly healthy, there was no reason for them not to be able to go into space. This was a little more thorough, since all five had to go- no substitutes.

After the exams came the training for using space suits and the equipment in the Phoenix. They also learned how to operate the small rocket-powered "tug" that would transport the spell bead to the comet from the ship.

Supplies were kept in magic-enhanced compartments that could contain far more than enough to sustain them. Their suit's air supply was the same way, as were the waste compartments.

Topaz wanted to dye the space suits different colors, but she wasn't allowed. They all complained about having to wear them the entire time, but that was just for letting off some steam. There was no help for it, and they all knew that.

They were given regular reports of the reconfiguring of the ship, and Sapphire learned how skoot physics was used to move it that far from a solid body. She found it fascinating, and agreed it could be the answer to interplanetary flight with trolls aboard.

bffl bffl bffl

Finally the day came when they were to go up to the space station and board the Phoenix.

Shale took her place as pilot of the Pegasus. It was a small shuttle, designed primarily for the transfer of personnel and small amounts of cargo.

The cabin had seats for twenty, but only five were occupied. The spell beads they had brought were aboard, stored away with their space suits. They were all wearing the jumpsuits.

The BFFL could watch the operation through the front ports, as there were no side ones. The seats were comfortable, and the harness more than just a seat belt.

"Where's the stewardess?" asked Topaz, looking around, "I could really go for a Trolla-Cola."

"There isn't one, Tope," said Amethyst, "You'll just have to be patient."

"Oh. What about the in-flight movie?" she asked, looking at her friend.

Sapphire sighed. "It's only going to take us about an hour and a half to get there, so there isn't one. Keep watching the front port, you'll get to see us going into space."

Topaz looked annoyed. "No stewardess, no movie... what a cheap way to run an airline."

Everyone, even Shale, sighed. Topaz sometimes was beyond hope.

The pilot decided to get back to business. "Preflight checks complete, starting hover," Shale reported to the tower.

"Roger that, Pegasus, cleared for launch," was the response.

She flipped several switches and a loud, familiar noise started- the hover mechanism that would raise the shuttle from the ground.

There was a tremble and jolt, and through the front port they saw the outside move down a bit. The ride smoothed out and the view shifted to the left. A moment later the runway came into view. The ship moved over to the center line.

"Tower, we are set," reported Shale.

"Go when ready, Pegasus," answered the tower.

"Activating rockets. See you soon," said the pilot.

A new sound, a loud rumbling, came from the back as the liquid-fuel rockets fired up.

The Pegasus started down the runway toward a gentle sloping ramp that would put them on the right trajectory. They felt nothing as the shuttle made the change in direction and cleared it. They were over the Great Lake and a few seconds later beyond it. The mountains to the east were seen in a brief glimpse, then there was nothing between them and space but the upper atmosphere.

Several minutes later they could see the curve of the planet below and the stars hard and bright.

The rockets abruptly cut off, and for the first time they felt weightlessness.

"Oh, wow, this is cool," commented Ruby.

"Everyone okay?" called Shale.

Amethyst looked around. "Seem to be," she answered.

Sapphire took a pen from a pocket and let it go. To Topaz's surprise it stayed where it was. The blue-haired troll then tapped it gently with a finger and it spun in place.

Topaz reached over and grabbed it. She looked at it, then at Sapphire, who was smiling at her. She put the pen in place and let go. Once more the pen floated there.

"That is sooo cool!" decided the amber-eyed troll.

Shale rolled the Pegasus over so they could see the planet below them. Onyx, who had been studying maps to augment her history research, pointed out features they could see. There was no sign of civilization, though. Neither trolls or any of the other intelligent species had done anything to the world that could be seen from space. At least, not yet.

More time passed, and finally Shale pointed out the bright star that was the space station, and said they would be docking in about twenty minutes. It slowly grew larger, and details could be made out. It consisted of six large cylinders welded together with corridors between them. Antennae and other instruments were seen on each section, but one section had far more than any other.

And true to her word, they arrived on schedule. When the hatch was secure and airtight, it opened and a couple of station personnel came in to do whatever minor maintenance was needed and get the cargo.

There was no gravity aboard the station; a spell for that had not yet had all the bugs worked out.

"Okay, guys, the station director is waiting for you," said Shale, "He'll probably give you a tour and take you to the living quarters. I'll meet you there. I want to check out the Phoenix and make sure the beads are put aboard."

"When will we be leaving?" asked Ruby.

"Probably tomorrow morning," was the answer. "See you later." Shale grabbed a handhold and pulled herself out of the shuttle, the others following.

Shale led the BFFL into the station proper. Some ten trolls were there to greet them. The rest of the population of twenty-two were busy.

"See you soon," said Shale, and made her way off to the right.

"I'm the station director, Dr. Trollen," he said. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit that clashed with his yellow-green hair.

Ruby gave introductions and greetings were made. Sure enough, he gave them the tour. Sapphire wanted to stay in the science section, and they almost had to drag her out.

Finally, though, they got to their assigned quarters and were left to their own devices. Tired from the trip and the excitement, they all took naps that lasted until the bell rang for lunch.

(1) The mission patch can be found on my dA account under the name Penumbrus.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

After a tour of the Phoenix (which they knew well from the simulator training) everyone but Sapphire ended up in the rec room. They all tried different games designed to take advantage of the weightless environment.

The missing member of the BFFL was, of course, on the science deck.

Using the telescope they showed her the comet close up. It was still pretty far away, but would be arriving in just twenty-eight days if they failed.

Finally joining the others they called home and checked in with their parents. In addition Sapphire called Jade.

"Boy, I'm jealous!" said the green-eyed troll with a smile, "I'm the one into astronomy, and you're the one up there with the space telescope!"

Sapphire laughed. "Next time we'll send you. I promise!"

"Take care, Saph," said Jade, suddenly serious.

"I will. See you soon," was the answer.

After the personal calls the Troll News Network had an interview with them. They insisted Shale get in on it as well. They tried to be reassuring, and told the audience to pay attention to the civil authorities and stay safe, just in case.

BFFL BFFL BFFL

On Ogre Island a familiar set of eyes was also watching the interview- Rhodochrosite the Ogre Mage. He had snuck back to the island after the failed attempt to take the magic from Trollhiti and kept a low profile. Keeping up with events was important to his plans, so he had all the modern communications equipment installed in his home. Many ogres did not like technology, but that would change after the Troll Nation fell.

Without his guidance the unrest among the ogre population had died out and relations with the Troll Nation had returned to normal. This was a setback, and he had found that many ogres were no longer interested in following him. He would have to try something else.

He had heard the rumors about a shooting star bringing disaster, but had dismissed them as superstitious nonsense. Now he knew better. And his surprise at who was going to try and stop it was strong. He glared at the TV as the five troll-girls were interviewed.

"So, these are the ones who defeated me, and they are the new Ancients. I wish I had known that before, I would have been better prepared," he thought. "But how did they find out?"

But before he could pursue that line of thought the plan for stopping the comet was explained and he listened closely.

"I will not interfere," he decided. He would wait until the Ancient's plan had been executed. If it failed he had time to go to his other home on the Mainland. Ogre Island would be in the zone of destruction, but he wasn't going to help others prepare. They had betrayed him and they could suffer the consequences, if any.

BFFL BFFL BFFL

The next day Shale led the way to the Phoenix. The preparations for its journey were long since completed; air, water and food for much longer than needed were stowed aboard, systems checked and rechecked, software upgraded where possible. The two spell beads had been secured, and one attached to the rocket that would carry it to the final position.

The departure was being broadcast over most of the TV channels across the world.

Shale led the way in and immediately went to the control console. Sitting down she flipped switches and powered up systems.

"Control, this is the Phoenix checking in," she said into the wireless headset.

"You're loud and clear, Phoenix," was the answer.

"I'm starting system checks, and we'll probably be ready to leave in about an hour," she said.

"Roger that, Phoenix, we're standing by," said Control.

The pilot turned her attention to a monitor showing system status.

Behind her, the rest of the crew came in and claimed the seats they had chosen before. They were wearing the space suits that would be their only clothes until they got back. The backpack was hung off the back of the chair, the helmet on a hook for that purpose above it.

"This looks just like the one we trained in," observed Topaz, looking around.

"Well, duh," Ruby rolled her eyes, "That's the idea."

Topaz shot her an angry look. "I know that! I was making a joke!"

"Okay, sorry," said Ruby.

"Let's not start out a trip where we'll be in each other's company for fifteen days by arguing," said Amethyst.

"Yeah, that would make the trip really fun," deadpanned Onyx.

Sapphire rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and went forward, looking out the port from behind Shale. The stars were bright, and the inner moon was at a three-quarter phase near the planet's horizon. Comet Trollzawa-Trollberger was above it, tail streaming to one side. A comet's tail is material blown off the nucleus by the sun, and always points away from it.

"You okay?" asked Shale, glancing up at the blue-haired girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I still can't believe we're doing this," she answered.

"What, saving the world again?" Shale smirked, "You know, if I had known you five would turn out to be Ancients, I'd have been nicer to you back in school."

"Back then, we didn't know either," said Sapphire. "I don't think we ever really thought about it."

Shale sat back. "Funny how life works. Mica conned you into upgrading his skoot by pretending to be interested in you. But you didn't let him get away with it." She smiled and looked up at Sapphire. "Me either."

"That part wasn't planned," was the answer, "It was his bad driving that ran him into the crowd, picked you up, and you both end up crashing into that taco stand."

Shale nodded. "And now look at us. It's five years later. Mica's dead and I'm piloting the five of you across space to a comet. Who'd have expected that?"

"No one," answered Sapphire, "The Ancients always told us that life was full of surprises." She looked out the port again. "When you look back, you can see the steps that led us here, but this was never a goal."

"Mmmm... actually, it kinda is..." said Shale, thoughtfully. "I always wanted to be a pilot, and you five were destined to be the new Ancients. That comet brought us back together. We wouldn't be here if we weren't what we are."

"I guess that's true," nodded Sapphire. "And you know, now that we've found each other again, we're going to stay in touch."

Shale smiled, a flush across her dark skin. "Thanks. Any time you need a pilot, you let me know." She looked at the comet.

"Phoenix, can I get a status check?" came the voice of Control over the radio, and Shale became all business.

"Ah, roger, control," she answered, "Internal systems are go, cargo stowed and crew aboard. The propulsion systems are having the final diagnostic. Estimate ten minutes."

"Thank you, Phoenix, Control standing by," came the voice over the speaker.

As Sapphire continued to stand by Shale, the other four kept themselves occupied. Ruby was on her phone, talking to Rock, while Onyx listened to tunes. Topaz was checking fashion updates and Amethyst talked to her mom.

"Better take your seat," Shale said to Sapphire. Then louder, "Okay, guys, we're ready to go!"

"About time," muttered Ruby, who had just finished talking to her long-time boyfriend.

"Control, this is the Phoenix, I'm releasing the mooring lines," Shale said.

"Roger that, Phoenix, and I know I speak for the entire world when I say, good luck!" was the answer.

"Thanks, control," she replied, "And I know I speak for the Ancients when I say we'll do our best!"

She got no objections from the girls behind her.

The Phoenix left the docking area and spent an hour moving away from the station. Through the port they watched as the comet lined up directly ahead of them.

"Turning on the propulsion system, stand by," Shale called to them. She flipped several switches.

Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, then they felt a slight push against them. The curve of the planet below moved out of sight, leaving the moon and the comet surrounded by stars.

"we're under way," announced Shale, "Arrival at the comet in five days."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Leaving the space station behind, the Phoenix was guided to the correct path by Shale's skillful hand. But after that, the experimental craft would glide toward the comet with only occasional course corrections.

For a while they tried to relax as best they could. They could take off their helmets and gloves, but that was all. They practiced going outside and getting to the rocket that would propel the bead and putting hands on it. Everything seemed to be in order.

But high spirits and excitement don't last forever, especially on a trip where things don't seem to change.

To say they got bored on the trip is to say they were traveling fast. Six girls, five of whom weren't yet twenty years old, cooped up in a cabin together and unable to take a bath or change clothes was a particularly explosive mix. Especially considering these were the Ancients. They couldn't even leave the room, unless they went into the tiny airlock.

Shale was used to long periods with no duties, and had brought her own amusements: she had a tPad and was reading journals saved up for just this purpose. She tried to stay out of the way, but there was no place to go in the cabin farther than ten feet from everyone else.

Sapphire was in her element, watching the stars, moons, and comet, and working on various projects with her notebook she had brought with her. Since there were only a few data channels aboard, no bandwidth could be spared for phone calls except for an occasional twenty-minute window. During the phone connections, she used a portable wi-fi connection and exchanged data with Jade. She wasn't bored at all.

Onyx liked boredom and down time. She had brought her notebook as well, and was spending the time reading the Ancient's journals that had been scanned, and working on her book.

Amethyst and Topaz made the best of it. The blond troll's cheerfulness and the pink-haired troll's calm worked together and kept a lid on things. For a while.

And of course it was Ruby that started it. The most physically active of the five she got bored the quickest and hadn't brought anything with her for a distraction except her tPhone.

It was four days into the trip, and tensions had been steadily rising. Finally it came to a head.

Ruby gave a loud sigh and put down her tPhone. She glared at Amethyst and Topaz, who were talking quietly about plans for the next BFFL Anniversary Party.

"Will you two hold it down? I can't concentrate with all that yammering!" she said in a loud voice.

The two immediately stopped talking and looked at her. "Something wrong?" asked Amethyst, knowing quite well what it was.

"You're driving me crazy! If this doesn't work, there won't BE a next party! Why don't you wait until this is finished to talk about it?" Ruby replied.

Topaz glared back. "Because we want to talk about it now! It's not like we don't have time!"

"Well, you're distracting me! Thanks to you, I missed playing a card and lost my three hundred forty-third game of Solitaire!" she complained.

Topaz and Amethyst looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

Sapphire, who was looking at the comet through the binoculars, said "Ruby, I told you before, if you're bored, play some of the games on my notebook."

"I tried, and they don't make any sense!" said the redhead, "All you've got are these dumb memory games and puzzles! Why don't you have anything fun?"

The blue-haired troll turned and glared. "They ARE fun! You'd think so too if you were smart enough to understand them!"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME STUPID?" yelled Ruby, taking a step forward.

"You think you're so smart, you figure it out," answered Sapphire, and returned her attention to the comet.

"You know what I want to do?" asked Topaz. She took a whiff of herself. "I want to get out of this space suit and take a shower. And go to the bathroom in the normal way."

"Well, duh!" said Ruby, throwing up her hands, "We all do! But it ain't happenin' so get used to it!"

Topaz stood up. It showed just how bad things had gotten when she got angry. "I KNOW THAT! DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME! I'M TRYING TO DO MY BEST AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING!"

The other four stared at Topaz, stunned. Shale sat in the pilot's chair and tried to ignore the rising voices behind her.

It took Ruby a second, but she found something to say and opened her mouth to do so.

"GUYS!" said Amethyst in a loud voice, getting everyone's attention, "I know we're in tight quarters on a very dangerous mission, but we can't afford this! BFFL, remember!"

"I was just waiting for Little Miss Diplomat to speak up!" said Ruby, turning her attention to Amethyst, "Mind your own business!"

"This IS my business!" Amethyst retorted. "I'm going to school for it!"

Just then the Phoenix gave a shudder.

The argument was dropped and attention turned to Shale, who put down the tPad and started typing. Ship's status came up on the screen. She sat back, watching the status board as it checked systems.

"What happened?" asked Ruby.

"I'm not sure. Display doesn't show anything, but we all felt that," she answered. She turned to the camera system and looked at the ship through every angle available. Nothing seemed out of place.

"What do we do?" asked Sapphire.

"I don't see anything TO do," answered the navy-blue haired troll.

"Shouldn't you call the station?" asked Topaz, "That's what I'd do."

"If something was wrong, they'd have called us by now," answered Shale, "Besides, what could they do? We're here and they're there."

"Oh, THAT'S reassuring," muttered Onyx.

"Maybe it was some kind of gravity anomaly," ventured Sapphire.

"Maybe..." said Shale, and pulled up a representation of their course, "But that would affect our course and it hasn't."

"Guys..." said Amethyst, "I just had a thought... I think I know." She looked around at her four best friends and one new friend. "It was a warning."

Everyone turned their attention to her.

"Remember what happened on Trollhiti when we were fourteen?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," giggled Topaz, "We were fighting after being cooped up in the house and... made... that... volcano..."

"Got it in one, Tope," said Onyx. Chagrinned, Sapphire and Ruby nodded.

"What are you talking about? What volcano?" asked Shale.

"Shale," said Amethyst, "There is a down side to being an Ancient, to using the Magic of the Five, and we forgot about it."

"We found out that if we argue too much, let our emotions get out of hand, bad things can happen," added Sapphire. "We once started a volcano without meaning to. We got off lucky just now."

Shale looked puzzled. "I've never been there, but I do know there's a volcano on Trollhiti. Wait a sec... are you telling me you made that volcano erupt?"

"Yeah," nodded Onyx, "Our magic can affect stuff it shouldn't, and if we hadn't stopped it, it would have destroyed the entire island and killed everyone there."

"You... started... then stopped... a volcano..." said Shale, stunned.

"Yep," they answered in sync.

"Remind me not to get on your bad sides," she said, and turned back to the controls. "If I'd known you could do that back in high school, I'd have been a lot nicer to you from the start."

bffl bffl bffl

The remainder of the trip was spent in better harmony.

Finally Shale slowed the Phoenix and it came to a rest at the distance from the planet where they planned to activate the spell bead in front of the comet. Sapphire really wanted to take a trip to the surface, but that was vetoed from the station and by Shale.

Among the supplies was a canister that could be sealed, and they would grab a piece to bring back if they could.

The sensors hastily mounted on the ship were being used to their fullest, as this was the closest any troll had been to a comet. The nucleus was somewhat larger than earlier measurements indicated, and Sapphire crunched the numbers again and proclaimed the portal should handle it.

They had to wait for several hours for the comet to arrive at a distance the portal bead could move the comet to the other side of the world, and they used the time to check out their suits and get ready to go out.

Finally everything was in place. They left the Phoenix to float nearby, staring at the white mass just miles away with fine dust being blown off by the sun.

"That's pretty," giggled Topaz, but nobody answered. The full impact of what they were doing, and what rested on its success, had finally really hit them.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Shale stayed at her post as pilot, keeping an eye on the ship, the Ancients, and the comet. There could be debris along for the ride, and she didn't want their only way home damaged or destroyed. The problem was the on board radar had to be used to keep the Phoenix at a relative distance to the planet, and couldn't look for danger. They had to rely on the station for that.

The five girls floated near the airlock, looking at the comet.

"Wow, that's really impressive," said Topaz, "And it's just a big piece of ice?"

"That's right," answered Sapphire, "But it's so big it won't burn up when it hits the air, and will cause a lot of damage."

"Yeah, I got that..." answered Topaz. Then she giggled. "If we took it home, we would never run out of ice at parties!"

"That's for sure!" smiled Amethyst.

The radio crackled. "Ancients, this is the station. We're picking up a separate piece of the comet that will pass close by you. There shouldn't be any danger, but be ready.

"Roger that, receiving now," said Shale. "ETA?"

"Three minutes, mark," was the reply.

"Uh, station, how big is it?" asked Ruby.

"No bigger than fifteen feet across, Miss Trollman," was the answer.

"A regular bead will handle that," said Sapphire.

"Just what I was thinking," answered Ruby. "Shale, we'll take care of it."

"THERE IT IS!" said Amethyst, pointing at a bright star that was just beginning to show a disk.

"And here's a bead," said Onyx. She reached into the left pocket on the space suit and brought out a purple bead. "I hope this is it. Hard to tell in these suits."

The other four closed in and put a hand over the bead. With no incantation needed, the bead began to glow.

"Here it comes," said Amethyst, looking toward the bow of the Phoenix.

The other four moved away, allowing Onyx to throw the bead at the chunk of ice traveling some thirty miles a second.

Ahead of the ship the bead exploded and formed a bright green portal.

"Okay, everyone, concentrate on keeping it open," said Sapphire.

It took a minute, but finally the ice hit the portal dead center with room to spare. It vanished, and the portal dissolved.

They turned around to find the exit portal just forming. The ice flew out of it and continued on its way.

"YEAH!" "WE DID IT!" "NICE." GOOD JOB, EVERYONE!" "what did we do, again?"

There were groans at Topaz's comment, and the blond giggled. "Just kidding."

bffl bffl bffl

The comet was noticeably bigger, and the time to activate the bead was at hand.

"About time, too," muttered Ruby.

"Timing is going to be tricky," said Sapphire, "We'll have to activate the bead, launch it, let the portal open and hold it open until the comet is through."

"But I know we can do it!" said Amethyst, pumping her arm.

"Thank you Miss Confidence!" said Ruby.

"I thought you said she was Miss Diplomat?" said Topaz.

"Never mind," said Ruby, exasperated. You could hear her eyes roll in her voice.

"Shale, how much longer?" said Sapphire, ignoring her friends bickering.

"The comet's course and speed are constant," Shale reported, "And I make it... five minutes."

"Let's get ready, guys!" said Sapphire, "The rocket will take the bead to the comet very quickly, so let's get started."

They clustered around the rocket with the oversized spell bead mounted on top.

"Say when, Shale!" called Ruby.

"Stand by..." came the answer. "One minute, twenty seconds... a minute ten... one minute... fifty seconds..."

The new Ancients put their gloved hands on the bead. It wasn't visible but their belly gems started glowing and the bead did so in response.

"To save the world is why we're here. The comet's getting awfully near. The situation's very dire. Make it miss our world entire!"

They pulled back and the bead started glowing a deep red.

"Launch now, Shale!" called Sapphire.

"Stand back! Launch in ten seconds!" came the response.

The BFFL scrambled away and watched as in the silence of space the rocket ignited. The clamps holding it to the Phoenix retracted, and in the blink of an eye (and much faster than they thought) it was gone, heading for a date with destiny.

"Get ready to hold it open, guys!" called Amethyst.

There was a bright flash of red, and the portal spell activated. The round, cloudy object expanded rapidly directly in front of the comet. It took about ten seconds for the expansion to stop.

"It's at it's widest! Hold it!" called Ruby.

They faced the comet and held out their arms, willing their personal magic to cross the vacuum and hold open the portal.

"Ten seconds to impact," said Shale.

"It's starting to fight us, wanting to close!" said Ruby after a few seconds.

"Don't give in!" said Amethyst.

"I'm doing my best, but I don't know how much longer I can last," said Onyx, the strain in her voice clear to all.

"Three... two... one... impact!" called Shale. The radar says it has about six miles of ice to cross into the portal. Because of our relative speeds it will take about six seconds or maybe a bit more. You've got to hold it that long!"

"Easy for you to say!" muttered Topaz.

"Guys, we've got a problem!" said Amethyst.

"I see! I see! The portal isn't big enough! Can we expand it?" said Ruby.

"I... don't think... so... I'm at my limit now," answered Onyx.

"Us too!" chimed in the other three, in unison.

The main bulk of the comet was disappearing into the portal, but the sides were not. They sheared off and broke up, leaving chunks of ice the size of houses moving away spinning.

"The main body will be through in five, four, three, two, one... now!" reported Shale, "You can relax, you've done all you can."

Five groans of relief echoed over the radio as the Ancients relaxed.

"You've done it! The world is saved!" came a voice from the station. "We're getting reports that the comet has reappeared on the other side of the world, and is moving away!"

"All RIGHT!" they yelled in unison, giving a clumsy high five.

"Shale! Evasive! There's a piece of comet heading right for you!"

"Grab something, guys! No time to get you in!" said the pilot.

"No prob!" answered Ruby, "GO!"

The five best friends grabbed pipes and handholds on the Phoenix and held on tightly. They watched the ship as it turned to port and started to move away.

"Too late!" called Topaz, pointing.

A tumbling piece of ice the size of a car was rapidly approaching, and there was no way for the Phoenix to move fast enough to get away.

"Shale, get out of there!" called Sapphire.

"I've got..." was as far as the navy blue haired troll woman got as the piece of comet slammed into the Phoenix amidships, between where the Ancients were and the control cabin. It wasn't even slowed down as it took part of the ship with it. The body crumpled and jackknifed and fluids started gushing from pipes sheared off. The fore part began violently tumbling, the Ancients holding on for dear life.

"SHALE!" yelled Topaz, and got four protests at the loudness.

"I think the thrusters are okay, I'm going to try and stop us rotating. Hold on!"

It took several minutes, but under Shale's skillful hand, the remains of the Phoenix slowed to a stop. Now far away the piece of comet continued on, unperturbed.

"You've done it!" said Ruby, relaxing. The others did the same.

"I'm okay!" said Shale, "But that was quite a ride! What about you guys?"

"We're intact, but the Phoenix isn't," answered Onyx.

"Yeah, she's totaled," said Shale. "And we're around three hundred thousand miles from the ground."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"Three hundred thousand miles?" echoed Ruby.

"And no way to get home," added Sapphire, watching as the pieces of comet left over continued on their way.

"So we saved the world and we're doomed?" asked Onyx.

"Unless you've got a spare space ship in your suit, yeah," said Ruby, sarcastically.

"Don't start with me," said Onyx, sharply.

"Shale, are you okay?" called Amethyst. "You don't sound good."

"Yeah, I'm fine. And if you'll quit arguing long enough, I've got some good news," she answered.

"Sorry," said Ruby and Onyx in unison.

"Okay, I want you all to stay where you are for right now. The computer is running a diagnostic. So far, I can tell you that the cabin integrity is intact, as are the supplies. We're running on the batteries since the main power was sheared off, but that's not a problem since they are magic enhanced and will last for months.

The antenna was lost so we can't contact the station, but at least local communication is intact.

We've been pushed into a new orbit, one that will take us away from the ground and into a solar orbit."

"And that means...?" asked Ruby.

"We're about to become a new planet," Shale clarified.

"With a population of six," added Sapphire.

"Okay, I need you guys to inspect what's left of the Phoenix, look for anything leaking, live cables sparking, anything like that. We need to get and keep as much control as we can," called their pilot.

bffl bffl bffl

Working slowly and carefully (no one wanted a punctured space suit) the five girls looked over the remains of their ship.

"Here's a leaking hose..." called Topaz, "Ewww! Whatever it is, is nasty!"

"Look for a valve to shut it down," said Shale. "I'll try to pinpoint what it is."

"Topaz, don't get too close to those wires, I haven't checked them yet," said Sapphire.

"Okay, I'll go over this way..." and she moved away from the wires.

"Shale, shut off power to lines B5 through B8," said Onyx. "I just saw a spark from one wire."

"Done," was the answer, "And that has nearly stopped the major drain on power."

"I found a valve," called Topaz, "And I've shut it off. The leak's stopped."

"I'm impressed, Tope," said Onyx, "Good work."

"Thanks, Onyx!" said the blond ditz, and giggled.

"Topaz, I found what was leaking... and you don't want to know," called Shale.

"Um... okay," was the answer. Topaz scratched at her helmet in confusion.

"Hey, Sapphire, isn't this the antenna lead?" asked Amethyst, holding a thin black cable.

Sapphire moved over to look. "I think it is! Shale, what is... G1?"

"Lemme see... Yes! You found it! Tie it off, and we'll think about making some kind of antenna when we get time," said Shale.

"I'll do it, and start on that last bundle of cable," said Sapphire.

bffl bffl bffl

Finally Shale was sure everything was as secured as it could be, and called the BFFL back in.

Back inside, they took off their helmets and sat heavily in their chairs. Shale handed each a towel and they wiped their faces.

"Get some rest and I'll fill you in on our situation," said Shale. She had also brought out bottled water from the stores and handed them out as well. Then she sat in the pilot's chair and turned to face them.

"All in all, we're not in bad shape. The cabin is secure as far as air pressure, and all the systems are running. We have supplies for about two weeks for the six of us."

"An advantage of magically enlarged storage compartments," commented Ruby.

"I stopped the tumbling, but it took most of our remaining fuel. The main drive is gone, of course. We were knocked into a new orbit by the collision. I thought we were now in orbit around the sun, but I was wrong. We'll be traveling away from the ground for several days, then gravity will pull us back."

"That's good news," said Sapphire, and looked at her friends. "We'll be getting closer to the ground as time passes. They might be able to rescue us when we get close enough."

"So... we're still stuck in here for days to come?" asked Topaz.

"I'm afraid so. We don't have any way to make the trip faster. I'll need the thrusters to control our attitude," said Shale.

Ruby sat back in her chair and gave a huff. "Great."

"Hey, we're alive, aren't we?" said Amethyst, "We saved the world and we're alive."

"Small consolation," muttered Onyx.

"You guys did a great job shutting down all the broken pipes and cables. I don't think there's any danger of an explosion or further leaks." Shale turned back to the controls. "Get some rest, and in a few hours we'll see about fixing an antenna and re-establishing contact with the station."

bffl bffl bffl

Shale and Sapphire were outside, trying to fix up an antenna. Onyx stood just outside the airlock, in case she was needed. Ruby was at the radio, with Amethyst and Topaz by her side.

"Okay, I've got the lead stripped, what now?" asked the freckled troll-girl.

"I m looking for something to use as an antenna, but there just doesn't seem to be anything suitable," answered Shale.

"Be careful and don't snag your suit," said Topaz and giggled. "It's already a fashion disaster, but you wouldn't want to make it worse by putting a hole in it."

Everyone laughed, and it eased the tension. Amethyst smiled at the blond and gave her a silent 'thumbs up'. Topaz nodded in response and smiled back.

"Maybe this piece of support..." muttered Shale. "No, it's plastic. Darn it!"

"The ship's hull is metal, isn't it?" put in Onyx, "Why not use that?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Well, I don't have any better idea," said Shale at last, "Let's find a spot with no paint and try there."

The sheered off edge of a brace was selected, and sapphire brought the end of the wire over. It was just long enough to reach.

"Stand by, Ruby, we're attaching it now," called Sapphire.

"On it," was the answer.

Ruby, Amethyst and Topaz watched the radio intently as a crackling sound came over the speaker.

"-calling the Phoenix. Station calling the Phoenix. Shale, are you there? It's been seven hours since contact was lost. Do you copy?"

There were cheers all around.

"That did it!" said Topaz.

"Okay, we're going to tie it off and come back in," said Sapphire.

"Uh, yeah, hello, We're here! Station do you read?" said Ruby.

"Phoenix! Glad to hear from you! Your signal is weak and the frequency is slightly off, but we can adjust. Can you give me a status report, Miss Trollman?" They could hear cheers in the background, and a voice said 'call their families!'

"We're all okay," answered the redhead, "A piece of comet hit us and tore the ship in two, but the cabin is fine, and everyone is in good shape."

"This is Amethyst. Me, Ruby, and Topaz are in the cabin. Onyx is just outside the airlock, and Sapphire and Shale were trying to fix the antenna," put in the pink-haired troll.

"Hey, I wanted to say that!" huffed Ruby.

"Sorry," said Amethyst.

"Miss van der Troll, look to the right of the radio. You'll see a set of switches marked "Data Feeds". Could you turn those on for us?"

"Uh, sure... got it," she answered, flipping the switches. "Wait, they were already on."

"Thank you. We'll analyze what we're getting and let you know."

"Sir, we're not getting anything."

"The lights aren't lighting up either," added Ruby.

"Well, we'll work with it later," came the voice from the station. "We've traced your signal and found you with the radar. Checking your orbit, it looks like you'll be moving back toward the ground in a few days, and it will take you about three weeks to arrive."

Just then Shale appeared behind the pilot's chair. They had missed the sound of the airlock cycling in the excitement of re-establishing contact.

"Ground, did you say three weeks?" she asked.

"That's correct," was the answer.

"Then we have a problem." She glanced around at the BFFL standing and watching her. "We have only have an air supply for two weeks."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

"Oh, no! I love air!" said Topaz.

"We all do, Tope," said Sapphire.

"Food and water will run out about then too," Shale added.

"We'll start working on solutions," said the voice of the station.

"Can we recycle?" asked Amethyst.

Shale shook her head. "No. The Phoenix was built for testing an experimental propulsion system and never meant to be away from the station for more than a day or so. We've got what would have been more than enough supplies, but no way of scrubbing the air or recycling the water."

"Then let's just open the airlock and end it now," said Onyx, "I don't want to die by inches."

Everyone looked at her.

"That was dark even for you," said Amethyst, "We've got to stay optimistic."

Onyx crossed her arms and looked away. "Speak for yourself."

bffl bffl bffl

The days passed, and as predicted the remains of the Phoenix reached the apogee of its orbit and began moving back toward the Troll World.

They kept in touch with the station and the ground, talking to their families and boyfriends whenever they could. The world was watching as the Ancients struggled to live.

An air leak developed and they had no way of stopping it. It was slow, and would make the air run out three days earlier than they thought. Shale turned the ship so the leak acted like a thruster, increasing their speed back toward the ground. But it wouldn't be enough.

There was crying, hugging, laughing, talking, shouting, arguing and silence on the remains of the Phoenix as the days passed.

Shale checked a gauge. "Guys, we have one day of air left."

"And one other option," said Onyx, looking at the airlock.

"I'd... really rather not do that," said Amethyst.

"Me either," added Ruby, "We're the Best Friends For Life, and if we have to go, I'd rather be together."

Onyx sighed and hung her head. "Yeah..."

They called the station and learned there was nothing new. No rescue could be sent. There was no way of getting additional air to them, either.

Their families and boyfriends were at the Space Center, Jade and her parents, as well as Shale's family and best friend Nikki. The channel was opened and they talked, saying their goodbyes.

Their parents and siblings were first, followed by friends.

Nikki and her little boy talked to Shale for a few minutes, then Jade stepped into the camera pickup.

"I'm really glad we're friends," said Sapphire.

"Me too. You changed my life in the year since you moved in next door, and I'll never forget it. Or you," said the green haired troll.

"If you want to honor my memory, become the best scientist you can be," said Sapphire.

"I will. Goodbye," said Jade, and walked away.

Finally their boyfriends clustered together at the camera.

"Ruby Roo," said Rock, tears in his eyes, "Always remember that I love you, and will never forget you."

"That's so sweet," said Ruby, smiling, "I love you too."

"Tope, I've said it before, this is wack," said Jasper, "And I want you to know I'll miss you, a lot."

"Well, I don't know if I'll be able to miss you," said Topaz, and giggled, "But I'll try!"

"Onyx, I'm working on a poem for you," said Flint, "And I'll read it at the memorial. I... hope you'll be able to watch."

"That would be cool," was the answer.

"Amethyst," said Coal, "I love you. I hate we won't be together again." He looked down, tears running, "There was a question I was going to ask you..."

"Don't, Coal," interrupted the pink haired troll, "Don't commit your life to me, or even offer to. Time will pass, and you'll find someone else." Her own tears were running. "I guarantee it."

"Sapphire..." said Alabaster, adjusting his glasses. He opened his mouth several times, but couldn't find a way to say what he was feeling. Finally he turned away, crying.

The six girls in space suits looked out over the room that held everyone in their lives, and everyone looked back at them.

"Goodbye! We love you!" said the Ancients, in unison, and the screen darkened.

The mood in the room did so as well.

bffl bffl bffl

"That went better than I expected," said Onyx, sitting down in her seat.

"This stinks," said Topaz.

"Yeah, I hate that we'll never see our friends and family again," said Ruby.

"No, I mean THIS stinks!" clarified Topaz, gesturing at her suit, "I've been in it for days and days, and it stinks!"

"They all do, Tope," said Sapphire. "I'm not happy either, but it's what we had to do."

"I know..." sighed Topaz, resigned to a fate of dying in a stinky space suit that wasn't even fashionable.

"How much air do we have left?" asked Amethyst.

"Nineteen hours," answered Shale, looking at the gauge.

There was a long silence.

"You know, it's too bad we can't use that other spell bead," said Topaz, out of the blue.

Everyone looked at her.

"What other spell bead?" asked Amethyst.

"The extra one for the comet," said the blond, "It could get us to the ground, if it wasn't meant for the comet."

Everyone exchanged a wide-eyed look. They had completely forgotten about the backup spell bead they brought in case the first one missed, or something happened to it.

"We... we COULD use it!" said Ruby, "It's a portal spell, but it wasn't keyed just to the comet!"

There was a mad scramble to the storage locker, and the container with the bead was pulled out and opened. It sat there, dark and inert. None of the trolls had ever seen a more beautiful sight.

"Way to go Topaz!" cheered Amethyst.

"Yeah, I just wish you'd thought of it earlier," said Onyx.

Topaz giggled. "Actually I did. But I thought it was meant for the comet so we couldn't use it. That's why I didn't say anything."

"I'm really glad you did, even as late as it is," said Sapphire, patting her friend on the back.

"I'll tell the station what we're doing," said Shale, heading for the console.

The mood aboard both the station and the Phoenix were considerably lightened. With renewed vigor they recharged their space suits air and power, and got ready to leave the Phoenix.

Shale and Sapphire went first, followed by Ruby holding the bead, then Topaz and Amethyst. Onyx took a last look around through the port in the airlock, then followed.

They moved away from the Phoenix and clustered together, Shale off to one side.

The Troll World was much closer now, a beautiful jewel in the infinite blackness of space. They all realized as they looked at it they would soon be there again.

Ruby held out the spell bead and the other four put their hands on it. It started to glow a deep red.

"With this bead that we have found, make a portal to the ground!"

The bead flashed and Ruby threw it in the direction of the planet still far away. It flashed again and exploded, becoming a rapidly-expanding portal. They were drifting right into it.

"Hang on, everybody!" shouted Ruby, and felt a tug bringing her over the threshold...

...to find herself off the ground. She barely had time to register surprise when gravity kicked in and pulled her down.

"OOFF!" she said, landing hard. She sat up.

"OW!" "OUCH!" "ARGH!" "HEY!" "WHEE!" reached her through the radio.

She looked up and saw the portal was some twenty feet off the ground.

"Everybody okay?" she called, but before there were any answers the cabin of the Phoenix appeared and landed with a loud crash nearby, and the portal closed.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Everybody okay?" Ruby repeated, staring at the hulk of the Phoenix, sand drifting around as it settled into its final resting place.

Wait. Sand?

"I'm okay," said Topaz, and giggled, "That was fun!"

"I guess I'm in one piece," said Onyx.

"Me too," added Sapphire.

"I- I'm fine, I think," said Amethyst, "My left wrist hurts."

There was a groan. "I think I made it..." said Shale.

"Great! We're all here, and all in good shape!" said Topaz.

"Where are we?" asked Onyx, taking off her helmet.

The others did the same and looked around. They were in a desert, with dark yellow sand and black and yellow rock. Stubby bushes grew here and there, and a light breeze was blowing. It was pleasantly warm.

"Not a clue," said Amethyst, flexing her wrist and wincing with the movement.

Shale walked over to the ship, then around it.

"It landed right-side up, so we at least have shelter," she called, "Since air isn't a problem any more, we've got food and water for several more days."

"That's great news!" said Ruby.

Shale worked the mechanism on the airlock, but it didn't move.

"Come help me, the door is stuck," she said.

There was room for just one more troll to grab the handle, and Ruby was the strongest of them, so she and Shale pulled hard. The door stayed stubbornly stuck for a minute, then with a groan of protest opened. The interior door opened without trouble.

Inside they heard a hissing sound. The lights were blinking from a short in the system, and the console was mostly dead.

"What's leaking?" asked Topaz.

"Smell that? What is it?" asked Sapphire.

"I can't smell anything but myself," said Amethyst.

"Me either," added Topaz. "Ewww!"

Shale took a whiff and her eyes got big.

"OUT! EVERYONE! NOW!" she yelled, and started shoving them back toward the hatch.

Once outside she didn't stop, but continued toward some low rocks nearby. She dived over them and held her head down. The others followed, confused.

But they didn't stay that way for long. The Phoenix blew up, the noise and light and sudden wind filled with sand and shards of rock and metal caught them by surprise. It took a minute for everything to settle down.

"That smell was fuel leaking from the thrusters," explained Shale, standing up, "And with the electrical short, it was only a matter of time before things blew."

"You saved our lives! Thank you!" said Amethyst, giving Shale a hug.

"Well, now we've got no supplies and no shelter," said Onyx, "What are we gonna do?"

"Good question," said Sapphire.

"I've had survival training," said Shale.

"From the looks of this place, we're gonna need your expertise," said Amethyst.

"Hey, part of the Phoenix is over there!" said Topaz, pointing.

Sure enough, about three quarters of the ship was left, leaning against some rocks where it had tumbled after the explosion. A gaping hole was in the side.

They cautiously approached it, Shale in the lead. Nothing moved, no sparks, no leaks, nothing. It was completely inert.

"Poor old girl," muttered Shale, giving the hull a pat, "You went through so much."

Sapphire made her way inside and went to the storage area. The door opened with a little tugging, and she looked in.

"Hey, I think a lot of the supplies survived!" she said, "Help me get it out!"

Over the course of an hour they brought out what they could. Topaz and Shale looked it over, separating out what had been ruined. In the end, they had food and water for a day, maybe two with conservation. Looking around, Sapphire's laptop was beyond repair, as was Onyx's and Shale's T-Pad. There was no electricity left, and the hulk was useless as shelter.

"We're better off than we were," said Ruby.

"Just postpone death another day," muttered Onyx. The others ignored her.

"Let's find some shelter," said Sapphire, looking at the low mound of rock sticking out of the desert sand.

They circled the hill, looking for any shelter at all.

"I think I see a cave," said Topaz, and climbed up the shallow hill to a dark area between two rocks. She peered in. "I was right! There's a cave here... and it looks like someone was here before!"

The other trolls joined her and looked for themselves.

"Yeah, there's steps going down, and I think I see statues and columns..." said Sapphire, pulling her glasses down from her forehead.

"Should we go in?" asked Amethyst.

"It's shelter, and will give us something to do," said Ruby.

Just then their spell phones rang. All of them. They pulled them out and answered. Rescue was on the way. The portal and explosion had been seen by a weather satellite, and rescue copters sent out at once.

Sapphire looked down the cave. She really wanted to go exploring, but now was not the time. They could come back once they were rested and things settled down.

The copters came into view, and the six troll-girls ran to meet them.

They found out they were in the Great Northern Plains, thousands of miles east of Trollzopolis. It was a trip of several days back home.

Ruby was chagrinned to think they hadn't put a destination phrase into the incantation activating the portal. But on the other hand, a spaceship exploding in downtown Trollzopolis would not have been looked upon with approval. In the end things had worked for the best.

bffl bffl bffl

Once they were checked out medically and released (Amethyst had suffered a mild sprain) they were reunited with their family and friends. A parade was held in Trollzopolis for them, and they were honored as the ones who saved the world.

But eventually things went back to normal, and they resumed their more-or-less normal lives.

On the evening before she was to go back to the Space Center, Shale came over to Sapphire's home. They sat and talked for a while, then went out in the back yard and sat, looking up at the stars.

"We've been through an amazing adventure," said Shale, thinking of her time spent with the five trolls who had been her enemies and were now her friends.

"And saved the world while we were at it!" grinned Sapphire.

"Oh, while I'm thinking of it," said Shale, looking at her friend, "It's been approved. I'm now officially attached to the Ancient Liaison Office as your pilot when you need one."

"Hey, that's great! Glad to have you with us!" said Sapphire. She reached over and briefly squeezed Shale's hand.

"Me too. I just hope nothing else happens like it did," said Shale, taking a drink of her iced tea.

"I heard that! That was too close," was the answer. "And anyway, I'm arranging an expedition back to that cave in the Plains. I really wish we'd had time to investigate it."

"What do you expect to find?" asked the older troll.

"No clue. I'm not even sure the statues I saw were trolls. But I want to find out," said Sapphire.

"Let me know when, and I'll be ready to take you there," said Shale.

"You've got it!" Sapphire gave a thumbs up.

"Anybody else coming?" asked Shale

"Just Jade. Onyx is our historian, but this isn't connected to our Ancients, so she's not interested," answered Sapphire.

"I see. And everybody else has work or school," said Shale. "I didn't know Jade very well from school. She always hung out with the other cheerleaders."

"Yeah. And now she's my partner in science," said Sapphire.

"I guess you just never know how things will turn out..." mused the older troll.

"Right. The expedition is going to be part of my degree studies, the archeology part," explained Sapphire.

"Sounds like Indiana Troll and the Temple of Death," smirked Shale. The other laughed.

"We've come a long way since high school, haven't we?" asked Sapphire with a sigh.

"And here's to an even longer way to come!" Shale lifted her glass, and Sapphire tapped hers against it. They took a sip and looked up again.

Overhead, the stars and moon shone brightly.

The End


End file.
